Tbilisi hosts rally against early release of jailed ex-Georgian president

A rally was held outside the presidential residence in Tbilisi on December 28 to demand that former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili not be released early from prison.

"We want to remind President Salome Zurabishvili of her own words that under no circumstances will she ever pardon Saakashvili, who must serve all the six years awarded to him in prison," one of the protesters, Tornike Molashvili, whose brother, former chairman of the Georgian Control Chamber Sulkhan Molashvili, died after being tortured in prison, said at the action, Interfax reports.

The victims of Saakashvili's rule have also announced that they will start a mass protest movement in Georgia if the former president is pardoned.

On Thursday, December 29, Tbilisi City Court will continue to consider the case of possible postponement of Saakashvili's imprisonment due to his deteriorating health.

Saakashvili's family and friends say he is in a critical condition. In turn, representatives of the authorities told reporters that Saakashvili was "faking" his deteriorating health.