In a written address published from prison on 46st day of his hunger strike, Georgia’s former imprisoned president Mikheil Saakashvili calls Georgia’s friends “to raise voice against the emergence of Putin-style practices in Georgia.”
“Since October 1, I have been held as a captive of Vladimir Putin and his local Georgian crony oligarch Ivanishvili in what the Amnesty International qualified as “not just selective justice but apparent political revenge”, and by the Ombudsman of Ukraine as “a clear-cut act of torture”. I was denied today for the second time the right to attend my own trial hearing. Yesterday, a group of European parliamentarians were denied a meeting with me,” Saakashvili says.
“I have held hunger strike for 46 days protesting the denial of my basic rights while tens of thousands of Georgian citizens march daily in the streets of Tbilisi and other cities to protest the government’s authoritarian practices. Despite of my worsening health condition the government continues to refuse my transfer to a civilian clinic contrary to the recommendations by the Public Defender of Georgia and medical doctors,” he added continuing with the appeal to “friends all around the world who care about freedom to raise their voices against lawlessness and the emergence of Putin-style practices in Georgia, a country where people are fighting for democracy and which was once hailed as a beacon of freedom.”
დახურვა