Berliner Boersenzeitung - Georgia's jailed ex-leader Saakashvili declares, then calls off hunger strike

EUR -
AED 3.888527
AFN 71.707535
ALL 98.090984
AMD 409.057758
ANG 1.898867
AOA 966.052703
ARS 1057.109536
AUD 1.626566
AWG 1.902983
AZN 1.795822
BAM 1.954642
BBD 2.12733
BDT 125.905439
BGN 1.955441
BHD 0.39899
BIF 3111.586725
BMD 1.058683
BND 1.416475
BOB 7.280688
BRL 6.085207
BSD 1.053566
BTN 88.904851
BWP 14.374352
BYN 3.447558
BYR 20750.18784
BZD 2.123732
CAD 1.484321
CDF 3038.420645
CHF 0.935556
CLF 0.037326
CLP 1029.939448
CNY 7.662216
CNH 7.660355
COP 4655.029384
CRC 536.582239
CUC 1.058683
CUP 28.055101
CVE 110.19974
CZK 25.276167
DJF 187.618007
DKK 7.459624
DOP 63.482406
DZD 141.227415
EGP 52.293861
ERN 15.880246
ETB 130.425263
FJD 2.401781
FKP 0.835637
GBP 0.835502
GEL 2.884902
GGP 0.835637
GHS 16.805048
GIP 0.835637
GMD 75.166726
GNF 9079.623091
GTQ 8.140179
GYD 220.429463
HKD 8.239063
HNL 26.614239
HRK 7.55186
HTG 138.408035
HUF 406.481436
IDR 16749.424582
ILS 3.951137
IMP 0.835637
INR 89.359572
IQD 1380.269573
IRR 44562.61259
ISK 144.500016
JEP 0.835637
JMD 167.222551
JOD 0.750708
JPY 163.504598
KES 137.046958
KGS 91.59805
KHR 4257.478742
KMF 492.022909
KPW 952.814346
KRW 1473.200077
KWD 0.325513
KYD 0.877972
KZT 525.708678
LAK 23147.292286
LBP 94351.125722
LKR 306.968215
LRD 193.335508
LSL 19.0816
LTL 3.126016
LVL 0.640387
LYD 5.145928
MAD 10.549153
MDL 19.144663
MGA 4925.036897
MKD 61.542153
MMK 3438.56126
MNT 3597.404957
MOP 8.447997
MRU 42.008123
MUR 48.995922
MVR 16.367172
MWK 1827.018049
MXN 21.411071
MYR 4.73127
MZN 67.676322
NAD 19.0816
NGN 1765.660328
NIO 38.777036
NOK 11.653558
NPR 142.247762
NZD 1.797455
OMR 0.407607
PAB 1.053576
PEN 4.004828
PGK 4.23849
PHP 62.13518
PKR 292.691105
PLN 4.319524
PYG 8212.098051
QAR 3.842524
RON 4.976335
RSD 117.001599
RUB 105.605105
RWF 1447.356554
SAR 3.974311
SBD 8.860668
SCR 14.544691
SDG 636.799886
SEK 11.55777
SGD 1.417439
SHP 0.835637
SLE 23.979201
SLL 22200.059295
SOS 602.149098
SRD 37.48267
STD 21912.601725
SVC 9.219453
SYP 2659.972781
SZL 19.074524
THB 36.609491
TJS 11.210461
TMT 3.705391
TND 3.330128
TOP 2.479543
TRY 36.637813
TTD 7.152764
TWD 34.335226
TZS 2809.725747
UAH 43.635047
UGX 3868.708969
USD 1.058683
UYU 45.183243
UZS 13499.005954
VES 48.41561
VND 26898.48967
VUV 125.688979
WST 2.95541
XAF 655.565681
XAG 0.033722
XAU 0.000404
XCD 2.861144
XDR 0.801518
XOF 655.562587
XPF 119.331742
YER 264.511909
ZAR 19.009322
ZMK 9529.417073
ZMW 29.053657
ZWL 340.895511
  • SCS

    -0.0300

    13.2

    -0.23%

  • BCC

    1.4500

    141.54

    +1.02%

  • RIO

    1.1400

    62.12

    +1.84%

  • AZN

    0.1600

    63.39

    +0.25%

  • BP

    0.4400

    29.42

    +1.5%

  • BTI

    0.2900

    36.68

    +0.79%

  • CMSD

    -0.0500

    24.39

    -0.21%

  • CMSC

    0.0540

    24.624

    +0.22%

  • GSK

    0.3400

    33.69

    +1.01%

  • NGG

    0.1500

    62.9

    +0.24%

  • BCE

    0.4100

    27.23

    +1.51%

  • RBGPF

    59.7500

    59.75

    +100%

  • JRI

    0.1300

    13.23

    +0.98%

  • RELX

    0.5900

    45.04

    +1.31%

  • VOD

    0.1500

    8.92

    +1.68%

  • RYCEF

    0.0800

    6.93

    +1.15%

Georgia's jailed ex-leader Saakashvili declares, then calls off hunger strike
Georgia's jailed ex-leader Saakashvili declares, then calls off hunger strike / Photo: Vano SHLAMOV - AFP

Georgia's jailed ex-leader Saakashvili declares, then calls off hunger strike

Georgia's jailed ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili called off a hunger strike he had announced a few hours earlier Wednesday over the authorities' failure to ensure a video link between the hospital where he is being held and his court hearing.

Text size:

Saakashvili has been a key figure of politics in the ex-Soviet Caucasus country for two decades and his latest protest put pressure on a long-running standoff with the political rivals who jailed him.

The 54-year-old was transferred to hospital last year after an initial 50-day hunger strike to protest his jailing, which rights groups and allies abroad have said was politically motivated.

Saakashvili's lawyers had requested the deferral of his prison sentence on abuse of office charges, pointing to his poor health.

A court hearing over their demand due earlier Wednesday was postponed after authorities failed to provide a video link between the courtroom and Saakashvili's hospital.

His lawyer Dito Sadzaglishvili told AFP on Wednesday that "Mikheil Saakashvili went on a hunger strike, demanding he be allowed to take part in the court hearings by video link."

Later in the evening Saakashvili called off the hunger strike, after an appeal by a group of European Parliament members.

"I have now received a message from the MEPs categorically asking me to stop the hunger strike at this stage" so as to not give the authorities a pretext to accuse him of self-harm, he said in a written message seen by AFP.

"The MEPs promise to mobilize all diplomatic efforts to ensure the protection of my minimum rights," he added.

- Poisoning concerns -

The founder of Georgia's main opposition force and president between 2004 and 2013, Saakashvili was convicted in absentia and sentenced to six years in prison in 2018.

The pro-Western reformer was imprisoned in October 2021, days after secretly returning from exile in Ukraine.

Doctors -- including those linked to Georgia's rights ombudsperson and his legal team -- have warned Saakashvili is suffering from serious neurological conditions.

Rights group Empatia has said Saakashvili was physically and psychologically abused in detention and a doctor linked to Georgia's rights ombudsperson said he had lost around 40 kilogrammes (88 pounds) in jail.

"I am sick not because I did not eat forcefully, but because I was poisoned... because I was a victim of improper treatment for many months, which has been confirmed by the world's best experts, including Nobel Prize laureates," Saakashvili said in his message.

In a report released by Saakashvili's legal team, a United States-based toxicologist David Smith said testing had revealed the presence of heavy metals in Saakashvili's body and that related symptoms likely "are the result of heavy metal poisoning" in custody.

The authorities insist that Saakashvili is being given adequate medical care and promised to ensure he takes part in a court hearing next week.

- 'Political revenge' -

Commenting last week on the growing concerns about Saakashvili's health, Prime Minister Garibashvili said: "Our lives are given to God, so I can't really be responsible for anyone's life."

He had earlier said that Saakashvili had been jailed because he refused to quit politics.

The European Union and United States earlier said the government was responsible for providing Saakashvili with a proper medical care.

In October, the Council of Europe rights watchdog called for the "release of political prisoners opposed to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin in the Russian Federation and other countries, including Mikheil Saakashvili".

Amnesty International has branded his treatment as "apparent political revenge".

Prior to his return to Georgia, Saakashvili -- who is a Ukrainian national -- had been appointed by President Volodymyr Zelensky to lead a government agency steering reforms.

(T.Renner--BBZ)