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Another rally in support of Saakashvili taking place near prison where he serves sentence

The protesters demand that Saakashvili who has been on hunger strike for more than a month, be taken to a civil hospital instead of a prison hospital offered by the Justice Ministry

TBILISI, November 6. /TASS/. An opposition rally supporting former president of Georgia Mikhail Saakashvili is taking place near the prison facility of the city of Rustavi where the politician serves sentence. The demonstration is broadcast live by the Georgian Mtavari Arkhi TV channel.

The gathering of protesters was scheduled for 5:00 pm (4:00 pm Moscow time), though people started approaching the prison earlier than planned. The protesters demand that Saakashvili who has been on hunger strike for more than a month, be taken to a civil hospital instead of a prison hospital offered by the Justice Ministry. Demonstrators are holding the flags of Georgia, Ukraine, and the European Union.

Various actions and rallies supporting ex-leader of the country have been held in Rustavi for a month.

Mikhail Saakashvili was apprehended in Georgia, where he came back prior to the first round of local elections, on October 1. The former president is serving a prison sentence in the city of Rustavi, where he went on hunger strike, as he considers himself a political prisoner. Georgia’s Justice Ministry has repeatedly suggested moving the politician to a prison hospital, but Saakashvili and his lawyers insist that he should go to a private hospital.

Saakashvili served as Georgia's president between January 2004 and November 2013. He left the country several days before his presidential term expired in 2013. Right after that, four criminal cases were opened against him and verdicts have now been announced in two of them. In January 2018, the Tbilisi City Court sentenced Saakashvili in absentia to three years behind bars in the 2006 murder case of United Bank of Georgia staff member Sandro Girgvliani. In June 2018, a court handed the ex-president a six-year prison sentence in the 2005 beating case of parliament member Valery Gelashvili.

On October 20, Saakashvili was charged with illegal border crossing, which may entail imprisonment of up to five years. The politician has been a resident of Ukraine recently, holding this country’s citizenship.

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Georgia Mikhail Saakashvili

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