TBILISI (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th December, 2021) Georgian activists are holding a rally in front of the presidential palace in Tbilisi, demanding clemency and the release of former President Mikheil Saakashvili, a Sputnik correspondent reported on Wednesday.
"This rally is taking place solely in Misha (Saakashvili's) support. Even those denying his innocence are gathering, as they consider him to be a political prisoner. (Georgian President) Salome Zourabichvili has a historic opportunity to end polarization and reconcile radicalized forces," rally organizer Nanuka Zhorzholiani told journalists.
In 2018, Saakashvili was sentenced to six years in absentia over abuse of power and a crackdown on the 2007 protests. He was arrested on October 1 shortly after returning to Georgia after years in exile, days before parliamentary elections. The arrest sparked protests, which only intensified after Saakashvili declared a hunger strike in prison.
