“Protection of the hunger-striking president’s life will be the protection of our dignity,” said Gigi Ugulava, former Tbilisi Mayor and leader of the United National Movement (UNM) party during the protest rally going on at the N12 Rustavi Prison with the demand to transfer jailed ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili to a civic clinic.

Ugulava called on the jailed ex-president to look out from the prison cell to see how many people loved him and convened to express solidarity to him. He urged Ivanishvili (former GD Chair) to hear people’s voice.

Ugulava tagged the video material reflecting Saakashvili’s receiving food as a sheer lie and explained that Saakashvili drinks juices and takes medicines only at the recommendation of the group of physicians established at the government’s instruction. The same is said in the statement of Georgian Public Defender.

According to Gigi Ugulava, with the released video, the government wanted to discredit the ex-president who has been on a hunger strike for already 37 days.

“This is the duplication of Putin’s regime and this is what Putin does against his adversaries. But we are Georgia. We are a free country and free nation and not a single person will tolerate that. I want to say and we have to acknowledge that the government wants Mikheil Saakashvili to never leave prison,” Ugulava said.

Ugulava claimed that the purpose of today’s gathering at the prison was to save a human’s, third president’s life.