08:52, 9 January 2020

Georgian Archpriest Giorgi Mamaladze stops hunger strike

On January 8, after meeting the Georgian Ombudsperson, the convicted Archpriest Giorgi Mamaladze agreed to stop his hunger strike and started eating. His advocate treats his health condition as critical.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on January 6, the Georgian President, Salome Zurabishvili, pardoned five persons, except for Giorgi Mamaladze. His supporters held a protest action in Gori, while and human rights defenders said that the refusal to pardon the archpriest was unjustified. On January 6, Nika Gvaramiya, the director general of the "Mtavari Arkhi" TV Channel, said that Archpriest Mamaladze went on a hunger strike and was in grave condition.

In 2017, Giorgi Mamaladze was sentenced to nine years in prison for plotting to kill the secretary of the Georgian Patriarch and illegal weapon possession.

Nino Lomdjariya, the Georgian Ombudsperson, has visited Mamaladze at the penitentiary institution, after which she said that at her request the convict had stopped his hunger strike, the "InterPressNews" reports.

Tornike Mamaladze, Giogri's brother, has explained on air of the "Rustavi-2" TV Channel that the Archpriest had gone on his hunger strike in protest against the poor custody conditions.

According to Mikhail Ramishvili, an advocate, the Archpriest's state of health is critical; and they bring Mamaladze to a meeting with him on a stretcher.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on January 8, 2020 at 09:00 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Author: Galina Gotua

Source: CK correspondent