01 June 2010, 18:00
Tsotne Gamsakhurdia, who is on hunger strike in prison, was visited by Patriarch
Catholicos-Patriarch of Georgia Elias II visited in prison Tsotne Gamsakhurdia, the son of the first President of Georgia Zviad Gamsakhurdia, who had been sentenced to 9.5 years of imprisonment. Keti Bekauri, Tsotne's advocate, supposes that the Patriarch asked the convict to stop his hunger strike.
Let us remind you that on May 3 Tsotne Gamsakhurdia, who is in custody in Tbilisi, announced his termless hunger strike at the prison hospital in protest against the actions of the prison administration.
According to Ms Bekauri, the ex-President's son is still on hunger strike, which was announced by him in protest against torture and beatings, to which prisoners are exposed.
As reported by the "Interfax" Agency, Tsotne Gamsakhurdia also demands that a special board is set up for monitoring prisoners' life in jails.
On the eve of the local elections Mr Gamsakhurdia had addressed the population of Georgia with an appeal "to learn to estimate the so-called 'political forces' and their deeds." In his letter Tsotne wrote that "people should come to senses" and think "till when experiments will be made on them for the sake of someone's well-being," the "Georgia-Online" Agency reports.
