Enigmatic former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili is in critical condition following 48 days of a hunger strike.
Georgian authorities have, thus far, refused to transfer the former president to a civilian hospital that is far better equipped to care for him. If he dies, it may portend Georgia’s enduring retreat into authoritarianism and cronyism.
Saakashvili led Georgia between 2004 and 2013 and was instrumental in the so-called Rose Revolution, which ended Russian political dominance over the country. But following the rise of the pro-Vladimir Putin billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili (the true power behind the current Georgian government), Saakashvili was hit with trumped-up criminal charges.
He gave up his Georgian citizenship to avoid prosecution and fled to Ukraine. There, he served as a regional governor until a falling out with former President Petro Poroshenko. Ukrainian authorities issued criminal charges against Saakashvili and withdrew his Ukrainian citizenship. This left him stateless. Seeking a Georgian revival of his fortunes, Saakashvili returned to Georgia on Oct. 1 and was quickly arrested by authorities.
As his health declines in a prison hospital, Saakashvili’s plight has led other Georgian politicians to take similar action in his support. Pro-Western politician Helen Khoshtaria has been on a hunger strike for two weeks now, demanding Saakashvili’s transfer to a civilian hospital. Her health is said to be declining.
Reflecting the unseriousness of its human rights rhetoric, however, the Biden administration has been silent in face of this situation.
Apparently wooed by the Georgian government’s recent hosting of U.S. and British naval vessels in the Black Sea, the Biden administration seems to fear that a more forceful condemnation of Saakashvili’s treatment might lead to Tbilisi adopting a more pro-Russia stance. This is an error. Georgians are looking to the United States for leadership, and the government’s record is clear: It already prefers Russian cronyism to serious Western engagement. Ivanishvili does not respect the rule of law. Georgians need and deserve U.S. moral leadership and support.
The U.S. and the European Union should immediately call on the Georgian government to transfer Saakashvili to a civilian hospital and provide him with due process under the law. If not, Ivanishvili will realize that it is indeed possible to purge his political opponents without any Western response. In that event, things will get worse very rapidly.
