About 300 people on hunger strike following announcement of mass protest for Saakashvili’s release
Among the protesters are members of the UNM, including Nika Melia, Giorgi Baramidze, Akaki Minashvili, Giorgi Botkoveli and civil activists. Photo: IPN.
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A total of nine tents have been set out on Kakheti Highway close to the central office of the opposition United National Movement (UNM) party with about 300 people on hunger strike, following the announcement of a mass protest demanding ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili’s release yesterday at a rally in central Tbilisi, news agency IPN reports.
Head of the UNM Nika Melia stated yesterday that more than 300 people are joining the protest, noting that ‘the hunger strike will not end until Saakashvili is released from prison.’
Among the protesters are members of the UNM, including Nika Melia, Giorgi Baramidze, Akaki Minashvili, Giorgi Botkoveli and civil activists.
Baramidze stated that the current ‘difficult situation’ in the country ‘needs to be resolved and demands the greatest responsibility from each participant of the political process.’
Opposition MP Levan Ioseliani from the Citizens party responded to the issue and noted that it is ‘impossible for a person to be released from prison because of someone else’s hunger.’
Hunger is associated with damage to human health and I do not support this action. Hunger [strike] is no longer used in Europe and many other forms of protest have been invented and adopted,” Ioseliani said.
Georgian Dream (GD) party MP Sozar Subari said the UNM’s action is ‘pointless,’ adding that ‘it would be good if they returned to the political process.’
Whether a person is guilty or not and whether he should be punished is not solved by hunger…Saakashvili will serve his sentence. It is a legal process and it has nothing to do with politics,” said Subari.
GD member Beka Davituliani also thinks the protest ‘won’t change anything,’ calling the demand of the protesters ‘utopian.’
Saakashvili, who is currently undergoing treatment in Gori Military Hospital following his hunger strike, says that the Georgian people should 'unite' in order to overcome the political crisis in the country.
The former president was convicted in absentia on two counts of abuse of power and sentenced to six years in prison. He faces additional charges including illegal seizure of property, embezzlement, illegal rally dispersal, and illegal border crossing.