MIKHEIL SAAKASHVILI

Medics who examined former president and opposition leader Mikheil Saakashvili, who was jailed upon his return from exile, say he faces an "immediate" risk of fatal complications.

Georgia Saakashvili Georgian opposition demonstrators with Georgian national and EU flags attend a rally in support of former President Mikheil Saakashvili in Tbilisi, Georgia, Monday, Nov. 15, 2021. Mikheil Saakashvili, 53, announced a hunger strike shortly after his arrest last month and has been refusing food for 46 days. His doctors say his health is quickly deteriorating, and his lawyers argue that the prison hospital Saakashvili has been transferred to lacks security and necessary equipment. Saakashvili's supporters have been holding daily rallies, calling for his transfer from the prison hospital. Ten members of Parliament have also gone on a hunger strike, demanding Saakashvili’s transfer to a civilian hospital.

Several thousand people have rallied in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, demanding that authorities in the ex-Soviet nation transfer the jailed ex-president to a civilian hospital amid reports that his health is deteriorating after weeks of being on a hunger strike.

Georgia Saakashvili Hundreds of protesters with Georgian flags rally to demand that the country's incarcerated former President Mikheil Saakashvili be transferred to a private clinic because he is weakening while on a hunger strike in Tbilisi, Georgia, Monday, Nov. 8, 2021. Saakashvili declared the hunger strike hours after being put in the prison in Rustavi, south of the capital of Tbilisi, on Oct. 1. He was arrested that day after returning to Georgia from Ukraine, aiming to bolster opposition forces ahead of municipal elections. (AP Photo/Shakh Aivazov) (Shakh Aivazov)TBILISI, Georgia — (AP) — Thousands of protesters rallied in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi on Monday to demand the release of the country’s jailed former President Mikheil Saakashvili. On Monday, Saakashvili was moved from the Rustavi prison to a hospital in the Gldani prison in Tbilisi.

Thousands of protesters are rallying in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi to demand the release of the country’s jailed former President Mikheil Saakashvili.

Thousands of protesters rallied in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi on Monday to demand the release of the country’s jailed former President Mikheil Saakashvili. Saakashvili has remained behind bars since his arrest on Oct. 1 following his return from Ukraine in a bid to bolster opposition forces ahead of nationwide municipal elections. Saakashvili left Georgia in 2013 following the end of his presidency due to term limits.

Doctors say former President Mikheil Saakashvili is very weak as he nears 40 days on hunger strike. He started the hunger strike after being arrested at the beginning of October when he returned to Georgia. Saakashvili declared the hunger strike hours after being placed in the prison in Rustavi, 30 kilometers (20 miles) south of the capital Tbilisi, on Oct. 1. He later was stripped of his citizenship and sentenced in absentia to six years in prison on abuse-of-power convictions. Supporters contend that Saakashvili’s health has seriously deteriorated while in prison, but Georgian authorities say his vital signs are normal.

Hundreds of protesters are rallying outside a prison in Georgia to demand that the country's incarcerated former President Mikheil Saakashvili be transferred to a private clinic because he is weakening while on a hunger strike.

Georgia’s national elections commission says candidates from the ruling party have won the mayoral races in the country’s five largest cities, but the opposition is claiming fraud. Near-complete results announced Sunday by the Central Elections Commission showed the Georgian Dream party winning the vote in the capital Tbilisi, Kutaisi, Rustavi, Poti and Batumi. Nika Melia, head of the main opposition party United National Movement and Tbilisi mayoral candidate, claimed that “the victories gained by the opposition in many municipalities were taken away ... like they never happened.”

Georgia Elections A woman wearing a face mask to help curb the spread of COVID-19 casts her ballot at a polling station during second round of national municipal elections in Tbilisi, Georgia, Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021. Most of Saturday's runoffs pit candidates from the ruling Georgian Dream party against challengers from the United National Movement that was founded by imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili. (AP Photo/Shakh Aivazov) (Shakh Aivazov)TBILISI, Georgia — (AP) — Georgia’s ruling party and the main opposition party are both claiming victory in elections for mayors of the country’s largest cities. Saturday’s runoff elections were held after no candidate won an absolute majority in the cities in the first round of nationwide municipal elections on Oct. 2. Saakashvili left Georgia in 2013 and was convicted in absentia of abuse of power and sentenced to six years.

Georgia’s ruling party and the main opposition party are both claiming victory in elections for mayors of the country’s largest cities.

MOSCOW — (AP) — A doctor for former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili says his condition is deteriorating 10 days into a hunger strike that he started after being arrested when he returned to the country. Saakashvili, 53, left Georgia in 2014 and became a Ukrainian citizen. He faces several charges in Georgia and earlier was sentenced in absentia to up to six years in prison. He returned to Georgia with the aim of trying to galvanize opposition to the ruling party ahead of national municipal elections and was arrested on Oct. 1. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

TBILISI, Georgia — (AP) — The ruling party in ex-Soviet republic Georgia is leading in partial results from nationwide municipal elections, but the mayoral contests in the country’s four largest cities likely will need runoffs. The Central Elections Commission said Sunday that tallies from about 39% of precincts showed the ruling Georgian Dream party with about 49% of the overall vote, followed by the main opposition party United National Movement, or UNM, with 31% and array of other parties in single digits. Georgian Dream this spring signed a European Union-brokered agreement to call an early election for the national parliament if its share of the municipal elections vote was less than 43%. However, it later withdrew from the agreement, saying the UNM hadn't signed it; that party later did so. The election was shadowed by the arrest Friday of exiled former President Mikheil Saakashvili, who returned to the country in a bid to galvanize opposition to Georgian Dream.

Near-final results from nationwide municipal elections in Georgia show the ruling party well ahead of challengers, but the mayoral contests in the country's five largest cities likely will need runoffs.

Georgia Elections Georgia's President Salome Zurabishvili, center, wearing a face mask to help curb the spread of the coronavirus, speaks to journalists at a polling station during national municipal elections in Tbilisi, Georgia, Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021. Former President Mikheil Saakashvili was arrested after returning to Georgia, the government said Friday, a move that came as the ex-leader sought to mobilize supporters ahead of the national municipal elections seen as critical to the country's political makeup. A strong performance by the opposition could raise tensions if Georgians expect that to bring an early national election. But it later withdrew from the agreement because the UNM had not signed it, although that party signed after Georgian Dream pulled out of it. Saakashvili, who left Georgia in 2014 and became a Ukrainian citizen, was arrested hours after he posted videos on Facebook saying he had returned to the country.

Georgians voted in municipal elections across the country that were seen as a test of strength for the ruling party and which opposition parties hope could lead to an early national election.

Georgia Politics In this handout photo taken from video released by Georgian Interior Ministry Press Service, Georgian Police officers escort former President Mikheil Saakashvili after he was arrested in Rustavi, Georgia, Friday, Oct. 1, 2021. The prime minister of Georgia says former President Mikheil Saakashvili has been arrested. In earlier Facebook video, Saakashvili said he was in Batumi, the Black Sea port and resort that is Georgia's second-largest city. Saakashvili moved to Ukraine, where he became governor of the corruption-plagued Odesa region, and obtained Ukrainian citizenship, which nullified his Georgian citizenship. After Poroshenko's successor Volodymyr Zelenskyy came to power, Saakashvili returned to Ukraine and was named to a top corruption-fighting position.

Georgia Politics FILE - In this May 29, 2019, file photo, Georgia's former President Mikheil Saakashvili greets supporters upon arrival at Boryspil Airport, outside Kyiv, Ukraine. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File) (Efrem Lukatsky)TBILISI, Georgia — (AP) — Former President Mikheil Saakashvili was arrested after returning to Georgia, the government said Friday, a move that came as the ex-leader sought to rally supporters ahead of national municipal elections seen as critical to the country's political makeup. In the posts, Saakashvili called said Saturday's elections “crucial" for Georgia and had called for a rally in Tbilisi on Sunday, promising to join it. The opposition party finally signed this month, and Saakashvili has urged supporters to turn out in force at the polls. After Poroshenko's successor Volodymyr Zelenskyy came to power, Saakashvili returned to Ukraine and was named to a top corruption-fighting position.

Georgia Politics FILE - In this May 29, 2019, file photo, Georgia's former President Mikheil Saakashvili greets supporters upon arrival at Boryspil Airport, outside Kyiv, Ukraine. Georgian government officials, however, denied he had returned to the country. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File) (Efrem Lukatsky)TBILISI, Georgia — (AP) — The prime minister of Georgia says former President Mikheil Saakashvili has been arrested. Saakashvili’s return came ahead of national municipal elections on Saturday that could be critical to Georgia’s political makeup. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

The prime minister of Georgia says former President Mikheil Saakashvili has been arrested after he had returned to the country.

Former President Mikheil Saakashvili was arrested after returning to Georgia, the government said Friday, a move that came as the ex-leader sought to mobilize supporters ahead of national municipal elections seen as critical to the country's political makeup. The announcement by Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili came hours after Saakashvili, who was convicted in absentia on abuse of power charges and has lived in Ukraine in recent years, posted on Facebook that he was back in the country. Details of the arrest were not immediately clear, but Georgian TV on Friday evening broadcast video of Saakashvili in handcuffs, with a wide smile on his face, being taken into custody by police.

Several thousand people have protested in front of the Georgian parliament, demanding the ex-Soviet nation’s prime minister resign over the death of a journalist who was attacked and beaten earlier this week by anti-LGBT protesters.

A protest against a planned LGBT march in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi turned violent as demonstrators attacked and injured about 20 journalists covering the event.

President Joe Biden frequently talks about what he sees as central in executing effective foreign policy: building personal relationships.

Preliminary election results show that Georgia's ruling party won the country's highly contested parliamentary election, but the opposition have refused to recognize Sunday's results. With more than 99% of ballots counted, the Georgian Dream party had received 48.1% of the vote in Saturday's election, according to the website of Georgia’s Central Election Commission. The biggest opposition alliance, led by the United National Movement party, got 27.1%. Irakli Kobahidze, Georgian Dream's executive secretary, said the party won enough seats in the 150-seat parliament to form a government. That’s where the consensus is right now,” European Georgia party leader Giga Bokeria, whose party won 3.8% of the vote, told The Associated Press.

In this handout photo released by Georgian Dream Party Press office, Georgian businessman Bidzina Ivanishvili, who created Georgian Dream party, wearing a face mask to help curb the spread of the coronavirus, speaks to the media after voting at a polling station during the parliamentary elections in Tbilisi, Georgia, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2020. Ivanishvili quickly congratulated his supporters on winning the vote after several exit polls showed his party with a strong lead. After the polls closed, billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili quickly claimed victory for his ruling Georgian Dream party, but it wasn't immediately clear if it won enough votes to stay at the helm. “It needs to be emphasized that the Georgian Dream wins the elections for the third time," he said. “This is practically a great triumph of the Georgian opposition, despite the harassment, intimidation and pressure,” he said in televised remarks from Ukraine.

The cyberattack four months ago in the former Soviet republic of Georgia was sudden, brazen and powerful, hitting the presidents official website, the courts, businesses and the countrys main broadcaster. Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko denied the allegations, asserting that the Georgian government had not provided any proof. We leave these comments on the conscience of those representatives of Georgia who made them, he said, according to the Russian state media agency Ria Novosti. Georgia suggested it was targeted in part because Moscow was rattled by its aspirations to join the European Union and NATO. Russia and Georgia fought a brief war nearly 23 years ago, and relations since have been tense.