Tbilisi: several hundred people rally in support of Saakashvili

The "Sirtskhvili" (means "It's Shame") movement has held a rally near the Georgian parliament building with a demand to transfer Mikhail Saakashvili to a civil clinic and hold early elections.

"Today, Giorgi Mamaladze was transferred to a civilian clinic; while for Saakashvili, authorities make an exception by ignoring his legal rights," Lekso Machavariani, the organizer of the rally, has stated.

According to the protesters, from 500 to 1000 people took part in the rally.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on November 13, Saakashvili's doctor said that on the 44th day of his hunger strike, the politician was so weak that he could not get out of bed. On the same day, Saakashvili's supporters held a protest action in Tbilisi. On November 14, nine oppositional MPs went on a hunger strike demanding that Saakashvili be transferred to a civilian clinic.

"It's important that the first action was held not by politicians, but by the civil society ... There is hope that students are also interested in this problem," said Levan Kartvelishvili, a participant in the rally.

Let us remind you that in late September Saakashvili returned to Georgia and was arrested, because earlier in Georgia he had sentenced in absentia to years of imprisonment under two criminal cases.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on November 15, 2021 at 00:56 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.