Tsulukiani to Saakashvili: stop hunger strike, stay fit, as you have to spend 6 years in prison

Georgian Cultura Minister, former Justice Minister, Tea Tsulukiani, has urged former president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili, who has been on hunger strike for 29 days, to stop the protest and stay fit ‘because you have to spend six years in prison and need to be healthy.’ 

Tsulukiani said that when she served as the minister of justice, many prisoners used the form of the protest for various reasons. 

“Of course, it was their right,” Tsulukiani said. She noted that unlike Saakashvili’s United National Movement government, the Georgian Dream authorities ensure the protection of rights of each prisoner, including Saakashvili’s. 

Saakashvili, who was arrested in Tbilisi on October 1, a day before Georgian municipal elections, stated earlier today that he will not receive medicines.“I will neither receive the medicines, nor consult with a council of doctors on my health condition, because I was in need of both to maintain strength before tomorrow’s municipal election run-offs,” Saakashvili said. 

He claims that he returned to Georgia after eight years in political exile to help his United National Movement party regain office via winning the October 2 municipal elections and then via snap parliamentary race. 

Saakashvili, who is a citizen of Ukraine, was convicted in Georgia back in 2018, in absentia, was abuse of authority and was sentenced to six years in prison. 

He has also been charged with four other cases which are still in courts. Saakashvili says he is a ‘political prisoner.’