Former Georgian President Saakashvili, imprisoned and on hunger strike, hospitalized

Former Georgian President and opposition leader Mikheil Saakashvili, imprisoned and on hunger strike since early October, was transferred Monday, November 8 to a prison hospital, announced the prison services of this Caucasian country.

"

" , they said in a statement.

In Georgia, the power pointed out after violence

The announcement comes shortly before a massive demonstration scheduled for Monday evening by supporters of the former president in Tbilisi, the capital, where they planned to require his hospitalization in a civilian establishment, and not a penitentiary.

Earlier Monday, doctors who examined Mikheil Saakashvili had pointed out a "

" and the "

".

According to Georgian human rights envoy Nino Lomjaria, a prison hospital does not meet these criteria.

Massive demonstrations of support

Pro-Western president from 2004 to 2013 and now considered the leader of the opposition, Mikheil Saakashvili was jailed on October 1 after returning from eight years of exile, just before municipal elections won by the ruling Dream Party Georgian.

Mikheïl Saakachvili immediately began a hunger strike to protest against this detention in application of a 2018 conviction for "

", which he denounces as purely political.

The Georgian opposition, of which Mikheil Saakashvili's United National Movement (MNU) is the leading figure, has for its part organized several massive demonstrations to call for the release of the former president and denounce the results of the municipal elections.

Charismatic and ambivalent character, renowned for having effectively fought corruption but also much criticized for the disastrous 2008 war against Russia, Mikheïl Saakashvili left Georgia in 2013. His imprisonment further aggravated the political crisis in this country, which began. with the legislative elections of last year, narrowly won by the Georgian Dream and considered fraudulent by the opposition.