Georgian opposition MP urges street protests to save former President Saakashvili's life

Member of the Georgian parliament from the opposition Strategy Builder party Paata Manjgaladze has called on people to take to the streets for supporting former President Mikheil Saakashvili.

According to him, when 30,000 people took to the streets as a result of Saakashvili's hunger strike, the government's response was immediate, so the solution again lies in demonstrations. Manjgaladze is convinced that Strategy Buil­der is ready to participate in joint measures to save his life.

"As the council of the Public Defender said, his health condition is alarming and his vital resources are running out every day. I know that Georgian Dream must make a political decision because if a legal decision had been made, he would have already been transferred to a clinic with the appropriate equipment," he was quoted as saying by Interpress.Ge.

"At Vivamed the situation is getting worse every day and I suspect that some parallel process is going on, a kind of special operation, in order to neutralize the third president Saakashvili, neutralize him politically and bring him to the point where he cannot do any political activity. I suspect that someone decided to make him disabled because he is a politically dangerous opponent. We will definitely need joint measures and Strategy Buil­der is ready to participate in these joint measures to rescue him."

Manjgaladze added that the only means that can force the ruling Georgian Dream party to make a wise decision is many people on the street.

"All who think that human life is precious should take to the streets on December 9, let's all stand together, let’s show them that Georgia does not give anyone the right to kill people," Manjgaladze said.

Georgia's former president Mikheil Saakashvili has been "poisoned" by metals in prison, his legal team has claimed.

The country's main opposition party says Saakashvili should be released because his "condition may lead to coma and death".

The United National Movement (UNM) also called for the former president to receive treatment at a high-level clinic abroad, in the United States or the European Union.

Saakashvili -- the former UNM leader who served as president from 2004 to 2013 -- is currently serving a six-year prison sentence.

He fled the country for Ukraine after the end of his second term in office and was later convicted in absentia of abuse of power.

The 54-year-old was arrested in October 2021 after returning to Georgia before the nationwide municipal elections. He has denounced the charges as political.