Former Georgian leader Saakashvili has ended a 50-day hunger strike Politics News

Former President Mikheil Saakashvili has agreed to end the strike after authorities offered to take him to a military hospital.

Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has agreed to end a 50-day hunger strike in prison that sparked political tensions in the former Soviet republic, prompting statements of concern from the US.

Saakashvili agreed to end his protest on Friday after authorities offered to take him from a prison hospital to a military hospital, where an independent rights commissioner said inmate members were being abused and not receiving proper treatment.

On Thursday, Saakashvili fainted and doctors asked authorities to take him to a regular clinic, saying his life was in danger.

Reuters television footage showed a convoy that included two ambulances on the way to Saakashvili, a 53-year-old prisoner in the Tbilisi capital, on his way to a military hospital in Gori town on Friday night.

In a statement to Georgia’s Sputnik news, the former president said he would resume eating after the transfer but would never accept his “illegal arrest.”

His personal doctor, Nokoloz Kipshidze, said “[Former] President Saakashvili formally called off his hunger strike as soon as he was taken to the Goriko military hospital. ”

“Life is still in danger and they were put in an intensive care unit,” Kipshidz told AFP, and Saakashvili’s “feeding will begin again on Saturday.”

Saakashvili was later arrested on October 1 return from exile to gather opposition on the eve of local elections. He faces up to six years in prison in 2018 after being tried in absentia for his abuse of office during the 2004-2013 presidential term on charges that he dismisses as political motivation.

The Georgian human rights commissioner said on Wednesday that Saakashvili should be taken to intensive care to avoid heart failure, internal bleeding and the risk of coma after a hunger strike for more than a month and a half.

Until Friday, he insisted on being taken to a civilian hospital.

“Dignity Denied”

Last week, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Georgia must ensure Saakashvili’s “safety in prison” and provide him with adequate medical care for the post-hunger recovery period.

Saakashvili was taken to a prison hospital last week, Amnesty International said, denying him “dignity” and proper care.

Twitter’s rights group has described it as “selective justice” and “apparent political revenge”.

Saakashvili said he was attacked by prison guards and feared for his life.

Saakashvili took power in 2003 through a peaceful “Revolution of the Roses” from 2003 to 2013 and made pro-Western reforms during his tenure, but led Georgia to a tragic war with Russia.

He left the country after the end of his second and final term and has since lived in exile in Ukraine, where he headed a government agency that led reforms.

His case has drawn thousands of followers to the streets in recent weeks.

Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili has said they will not forgive Saakashvili. The U.S. on Thursday called on Georgia to be treated “fairly and with dignity” and was closely monitoring its situation.

“I will never accept my illegal imprisonment,” Saakashvili said on Facebook on Friday evening, adding that he was “ready to appear before a fair trial and accept any verdict he gives.”

As soon as I release you, I will join you, as equals, in rebuilding our country, ”Saakashvili wrote in a statement to the nation.

He thanked the Georgians for “an unbelievable display of solidarity and humanity” and called for a campaign to “liberate the country” of the Georgian party Dream of the oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili.

“I believe like never before in our victory.”