INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Georgia's jailed ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili called off a hunger strike he had announced a few hours earlier Wednesday over the
authorities' failure to ensure a video link between the hospital where he is being held and his court hearing.Saakashvili has been a key
figure of politics in the ex-Soviet Caucasus country for two decades and his latest protest put pressure on a long-running standoff with the
political rivals who jailed him.The 54-year-old was transferred to hospital last year after an initial 50-day hunger strike to protest his
jailing, which rights groups and allies abroad have said was politically motivated.Saakashvili's lawyers had requested the deferral of his
prison sentence on abuse of office charges, pointing to his poor health.A court hearing over their demand due earlier Wednesday was
postponed after authorities failed to provide a video link between the courtroom and Saakashvili's hospital.His lawyer Dito Sadzaglishvili
told AFP on Wednesday that "Mikheil Saakashvili went on a hunger strike, demanding he be allowed to take part in the court hearings by video
received a message from the MEPs categorically asking me to stop the hunger strike at this stage" so as to not give the authorities a
the protection of my minimum rights," he added.Poisoning concernsThe founder of Georgia's main opposition force and president between 2004
and 2013, Saakashvili was convicted in absentia and sentenced to six years in prison in 2018.The pro-Western reformer was imprisoned in
physically and psychologically abused in detention and a doctor linked to Georgia's rights ombudsperson said he had lost around 40
because I was a victim of improper treatment for many months, which has been confirmed by the world's best experts, including Nobel Prize
laureates," Saakashvili said in his message.In a report released by Saakashvili's legal team, a United States-based toxicologist David
Smith said testing had revealed the presence of heavy metals in Saakashvili's body and that related symptoms likely "are the result of
heavy metal poisoning" in custody.The authorities insist that Saakashvili is being given adequate medical care and promised to ensure he
takes part in a court hearing next week.'Political revenge'Commenting last week on the growing concerns about Saakashvili's health, Prime
Minister Garibashvili said: "Our lives are given to God, so I can't really be responsible for anyone's life."He had earlier said that
Saakashvili had been jailed because he refused to quit politics.The European Union and United States earlier said the government was
responsible for providing Saakashvili with proper medical care.In October, the Council of Europe rights watchdog called for the "release of
political prisoners opposed to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin in the Russian Federation and other countries, including Mikheil
