Painter Gia Bughadze surprised by passivity of West regarding Saakashvili

Georgian painter Gia Bughadze says he is “surprised by the passivity of our western friends, what are they waiting for?”

At today’s rally at Rustavi prison, where Georgia’s ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili is held, Bughadze urged him to stop the hunger strike “as the country needs you alive.”

“Georgia needs you. Misha, think about your mother, your children, about Georgia. We need you alive. We do not want to mourn but fight for victory,” Bughadze underscored.

Another protest rally in support of Saakashvili will kick off is Zugdidi this evening.

Law enforcers arrested Mikheil Saakashvili in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi on October 1. He kicked off a hunger striker day after detention.

The ex-president is charged with several criminal offences. In 2018, he was sentenced to six years in prison in absentia for abuse of power.