“Before Our Eyes, They Took My Son” - Saakashvili's Mother Claims Her Son Was Taken by Helicopter to an Unknown Destination

The former President of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, was taken out of prison and lifted into the air by a helicopter headed to an unknown direction, according to the state’s official reports from his mother, Giuli Alasania, as reported by Russia Today.

"They (the prison authorities) ignored everything; they stole my son before our eyes and took him somewhere... The fact is that he was removed in armored vehicles and then put on a helicopter, but I don’t know where they took him, let’s see," said the woman.

Georgian media reported that Saakashvili was “taken to a hospital in the city of Gori.” Dr. Nikoloz Kipshidze stated that the condition of the former president, who is on hunger strike, is deteriorating day by day. At the same time, on November 6, the Special Penitentiary Service of the Ministry of Justice published a video showing how Saakashvili, while on hunger strike, consumed food. The former president claimed that it was not food but necessary trace elements for sustaining life.

Saakashvili was arrested in Georgia on October 1. Simultaneously, the Georgian Ombudsman Nino Lomjaria announced that he had gone on a hunger strike after his arrest, as he disagrees with the charges brought against him and considers himself a political prisoner. Saakashvili is involved in several criminal cases in Georgia. The former president has been sentenced in absentia for the murder of banker Sandro Girgvliani and the beating of MP Valeri Gelashvili. In the first case, he was sentenced to three years of imprisonment, and in the second case, to six years. Additionally, Saakashvili is involved in cases related to the dispersal of an opposition rally on November 7, 2007, the raid on the Imedi television station, and the embezzlement of funds from the state budget. Those cases are still in court.