Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, who was detained on Friday after returning to the country, went on a hunger strike in prison, Georgian human rights ombudsman Nino Lommaria said after a meeting with him.
“He is on hunger strike because he does not agree with the accusations and considers himself a political prisoner,” she told reporters.
Returning to Georgia, Saakashvili spoke to his supporters on Facebook, calling for local elections on Saturday and voting for the largest opposition party he founded, the United National Movement, or “another fair political force” to overthrow the ruling Georgia Dream.
He was detained in his apartment in Tbilisi on Friday and, according to preliminary information, is currently in the Rustavi city prison, the newspaper “Izvestia” reports.
In Georgia, the former president has been convicted of abuse of office and deprived of Georgian citizenship. Saakashvili, a 53-year-old Ukrainian citizen, himself has denied the allegations, calling them politically motivated.
He is now also the subject of criminal proceedings for illegal crossing of the state border.
The Georgian prosecutor has ruled that the convictions handed down to the former president cannot be appealed and has rejected the possibility of extraditing him to Ukraine. Saakashvili’s lawyer, on the other hand, has indicated that his defendant can be released only if he is pardoned by Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili, who has stated that he is not allowed to do so.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry has asked Saakashvili to meet with Ukraine’s consul for consular assistance.
Saakashvili left Georgia in 2013, when his second term as president ended. In recent years, he has lived in Ukraine, where he has held various high-ranking positions and currently chairs the Ukraine Reform Executive Committee.
Georgia plunged into political chaos last year after the parliamentary elections, in which the ruling party “Georgia’s Dream” won by a small majority. The opposition claims that the election results have been falsified.
In May, a cross-party agreement was reached between European Council President Charles Michel, in which the “Georgia Dream” promised to hold early parliamentary elections if the municipal elections received less than 43% of the vote on Saturday. However, in July, the ruling party left the agreement unilaterally, provoking sharp criticism from the European Union (EU) and the United States.
Saakashvili announced his intention to return to Georgia on Monday.
Georgian Prime Minister Heraklion Garibashvili immediately announced that Saakashvili would be detained if he arrived in Georgia.
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