Jailed Georgian ex-president Saakashvili to end 50-day hunger strike

Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has agreed to end a 50-day hunger strike once authorities transferred him to a military hospital.

Lawyer Dito Sadzaglishvili said the former leader would be moved from a prison hospital in the capital Tbilisi to the military hospital in the town of Gori on Friday night.

The transfer, proposed by Georgia's Justice Ministry earlier in the day, appeared to mark a breakthrough in a long stand-off that had prompted the United States and others to raise concerns for his health.

Demonstrators rallied outside the parliament building in Georgia’s capital in support of Saakashvili, who doctors say is suffering neurological problems after more than seven weeks on a hunger strike.

READ MORE: Thousands march in support of Georgia's jailed ex-leader Saakashvili

Worsening health

A day earlier, Saakashvili fell and lost consciousness at the end of a visit with his lawyer in the prison.

The national ombudsman’s office said that the fall was due to a condition called Wernicke’s encephalopathy, which is caused by vitamin-B deficiency and can result in vision and motor problems.

Georgia's human rights commissioner said on Wednesday that Saakashvili was being mistreated by other inmates in the prison hospital and needed to be moved to intensive care to avoid the risk of heart failure, internal bleeding and coma after more than a month and a half on hunger strike.

Until Friday, he had insisted on being transferred to a civilian hospital.

Saakashvili, who was president in 2008-13, left Georgia for Ukraine after the end of his second term and was later convicted in absentia of abuse of power and sentenced to six years in prison. He was arrested on Octover 1 after returning to Georgia to try to bolster opposition forces in the run-up to nationwide municipal elections.

READ MORE: Georgia arrests ex-president Saakashvili after return from exile