Eduard Saakashvili, the eldest son of the third President of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, has released a video address in which he asks Georgian authorities to take the ex-president to a civilian clinic.
''I have always distanced myself from politics, and now also I address you as a son. I address you as the son of the father who is under threat. When my father was detained, I sincerely thought that he would have been provided with the appropriate conditions and would have been treated respectfully. I thought no threats would have been posed to his state of health. However, whatever happened had happened, and we saw what we had seen. I was astounded after they refused to transfer him to a clinic, also after they violated his dignity, and after I saw that horrible footage, which has been stayed in my memory forever.
I want to address supporters of the government as I know that many of them deem themselves humanists. I can also understand that you have serious complaints about my father. I sincerely wish the time to come when the public together objectively assesses the past. However, whatever is happening today has gone beyond even political justice and developed into extremely frightening and gruesome retribution.
We are dealing with negligence in the best-case scenario and deliberate murder in the worst.
The government can resolve the existing issue by taking some simple steps and, by doing so, neutralize the threats posed to my father.
I hope nobody wants my father dead, and his death plays into nobody's hands. On behalf of my brother and mother, I request that my father be transferred to a civilian clinic,'' Eduard Saakashvili said.
Mikheil Saakashvili, detained on 1 October, has been on a hunger strike for 46 days now.
