Georgia suspended over Mikheil Saakashvili’s fate

The three yellow, pink and red poufs are enthroned in front of the prison entrance. Considering the time Badri Nemsadzé spends here, he needs a little comfort. Since learning that former Georgian President and opposition leader Mikheil Saakashvili had been imprisoned upon his return to the country after eight years in exile, the 1er October, this 54-year-old man stays day and night in front of the gates as a sign of support. His hero is nearby, in one of the buildings behind barbed wire. “This is a historic moment for Georgia, he assures. Micha (Saakashvili’s nickname) represents western values, democracy and freedom of expression. If he is not released, this country has no future. “

Read also Article reserved for our subscribers Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, in prison and on hunger strike, tells “World”: “I am ready to go all the way”

Protesters gather here every evening to demand the release of the former leader, sentenced in absentia to six years in prison in 2018 for ” abuse of power “. The person concerned, who considers himself a “political prisoner”, went on hunger strike upon his arrest. Since then, Georgia has lived to the rhythm of information on his state of health and controversies over what he would have swallowed. Did he put honey in his tea? The government declares as soon as it has eaten “Half a kilo of honey”, inciting the prisoner, who denies, to further harden his hunger strike.

The opponent, 53, has already lost 15 kg to 17 kg in twenty-one days, according to his statements to the World. Impossible, however, to know exactly, assures his personal doctor, Nikoloz Kipchidze, returned from the United States to ensure his follow-up. “The scale gives a very different weight from one day to another”, he explains. This quirk questions him, as do the two diabetes tests his patient underwent. “It’s very strange: why two tests? And why without my having been informed? “ Suspicious, he fears that one seeks to discredit the opponent. Same suspicion towards the psychiatrist who follows him: “I grew up in the USSR, I know how psychiatrists treated dissidents. I’m afraid they’ll do the same ”, he said, believing he was “The only one trying to be objective” in this country where “Everything is politicized”.

Extreme polarization of society

Mikheil Saakashvili, head of the main opposition party, the United National Movement, has started his third week of hunger. A critical threshold. “His condition can deteriorate suddenly every second, the doctor worries. He is very pale and goes to great lengths to be strong. But in the evening, it’s something else. “ The former leader of the “Rose Revolution” (2003) could be hospitalized overnight.

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