The Secretary of the Catholicos-Patriarch, Archpriest Mikael Botkoveli conveyed the blessing and greetings of His Holiness to Mikheil Saakashvili and asked him on behalf of the Church to end the hunger strike, “because it is a non-Christian act,” the Patriarchate’s Public Relations Office reports.
The Patriarchate says that with the blessing of His Holiness, Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II, the Secretary of the Catholicos-Patriarch visited the third President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili at the Rustavi Prison.
“Archpriest Mikael Botkoveli conveyed the blessing and greetings of His Holiness to Mr. Mikheil Saakashvili and, as in all similar cases, this time asked on behalf of the Church to end the hunger strike, because it is a non-Christian act,” the statement said.
The former President of Georgia has been on hunger strike in Rustavi Prison for a week now as a form of protest as he considers himself a political prisoner of the regime. As a Ukrainian citizen, he requests a meeting with the Ukrainian Consul. President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed to take him back to Ukraine.
By Ana Dumbadze
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