PM Garibashvili: UNM has plans to ‘free’ Saakashvili if he is brought to civil clinic

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili says that the United National Movement (UNM) opposition party has plans to ‘free’ arrested former president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili  if he is taken to a civil clinic due to a hunger strike. 

 

Garibashvili said that the major reason why Saakashvili is offered to undergo treatment in a prison hospital is to prevent the provocation at a civil clinic with 4.000-5,000 UNM supporters, where people may also be killed to further complicate the situation. 

 

He also said that Saakashvili has been offered all opportunities to receive medical treatment which he refuses, adding that the ‘state will not take any responsibility if he dies because of the hunger strike.’ 

 

Saakashvili, who returned to Georgia after eight years in political exile, was arrested in Tbilisi on October 1, one day before Georgia’s municipal elections. 
He claims he returned to help his United National Movement opposition party to regain office. 

 

Saakashvili was convicted in absentia in Georgia back in 2018 for abuse of authority and was sentenced to six years in prison. 
He has also been charged with four other offences which are still in courts. 

 

Saakashvili states he is a ‘political prisoner’.

 

He is a citizen of Ukraine and currently chairs the Executive Committee of the Ukrainian National Reforms Council.