In Prison Note, Georgian Ex-President Says U.S. Must Step In

Saakashvili temporarily passed out 48 days into hunger strike
Georgia offers to move Saakashvili to military hospital

Mikheil Saakashvili
Photographer: Vincent Mundy/Bloomberg

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By Marc Champion and Helena Bedwell

November 18, 2021 at 6:13 PM UTC

Updated on

November 19, 2021 at 1:31 PM UTC

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Imprisoned and on hunger strike, Georgia’s former President Mikheil Saakashvili called on the U.S. for help as he warned the former Soviet republic was turning away from the pro-Western path he set it on 18 years ago.

Saakashvili sent scrawled, handwritten responses to questions through his lawyers Wednesday, and is 49 days into a hunger strike in which he drinks but does not eat. A doctor told reporters outside the hospital Thursday the 53-year-old temporarily lost consciousness during the day but was now stable.