The prison hospital treating Georgia's hunger-striking former president Mikheil Saakashbili lacks proper medical equipment and fellow inmates there have threatened and abused him, according to a Georgian human rights official.
Public Defender Nino Lomjaria, Georgia's rights ombudsman said, "Particular attention should be paid to the environment in which Mikheil Saakashvili is placed, which grossly violates human rights.
Saakashbili was arrested after returning from exile to Georgia to rally the opposition on the eve of local elections, in what he described as a mission to save the country. He faces six years in prison after being convicted in absentia in 2018 of abusing his office during his 2004-2013 presidency, charges he rejects as politically motivated.
Saakashbili's case has drawn thousands of his supporters on to the streets in recent weeks and raised political tensions.
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