16:00, 22 December 2012

Former MoD boss Okruashvili stops his hunger strike

Irakli Okruashvili, the ex-Defence Minister, who is serving his term in the Tbilisi prison, has stopped, as well as his fellow prisoners, the hunger strike. This news was spread by the "Georgian Party".

Okruashvili, who is accused of creating an illegal armed formation, went on a hunger strike on December 18 in Gldani Prison demanding to award him and his associates with the title of political prisoners. On December 19, his action was supported by 26 other inmates kept in Tbilisi prison No. 9.

"We, those who had been persecuted by Saakashvili's government and not yet recognized the new government as political prisoners, hereby declare that at this stage we stop our hunger strike," the "Georgia Online" quotes the statement of the "Georgian Party", where Okruashvili is a co-founder.

The prisoners who have signed the appeal state that they will continue their struggle for recognition of them as political prisoners "by all fair means, including through international organizations, the "News-Georgia" reports.