Former President Mikheil Saakashvili has accepted the government’s offer to be transferred to the Military Hospital in Gori for his post-hunger-strike recovery, according to his note from prison hospital read by his lawyer Nika Gvaramia.
He is expected to be transferred to the Military Hospital later today.
“I agreed to travel on the highway I have built to the Gori Hospital which I have built and to end the hunger strike as soon as I am placed there, but I am not really going to put up with my illegal detention and hopefully, you will not tolerate my captivity by Putin,” said Saakashvili in the letter.
The former President, convicted in two cases and facing charges in three more, asserted he is “ready to stand before even a specially created but fair court and defend my and our historical truth, including those who have considered themselves oppressed or who have suffered real damage during my presidency.”
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“All this must be done by strict observance of national dignity and legal norms, and I will obey any judgment of such a court,” Saakashvili went on, adding that “my detention today is illegal, and we must end it together.”
In his missive, the former President also said “we must finish liberating our country and when the country is liberated, I will be free too. As soon as I am free, I will join you as an equal among equals to rebuild our country. I will be involved in returning our country to the European path and in holding fair elections in the country, overcoming poverty, hardship, and hopelessness.”
Along with Saakashvili, nine United National Movement bloc MPs, on hunger strike since November 14 demanding Saakashvili’s transfer to civilian clinic, have also announced they are ending their hunger strike. Earlier today, Elene Khoshtaria, Droa party leader and MP, also quit her hunger strike after authorities offered Saakashvili treatment in Gori Hospital.
More to follow
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