Georgia: Zviad Gamsakhurdia's widow goes on hunger strike

Today, Manana Archvadze-Gamsakhurdia, widow of the first president of Georgia Zviad Gamsakhurdia, has announced a dry hunger strike in the reception room of the Republic's Hospitals in Tbilisi.

The hunger-striker's demand is to withdraw her deceased husband Zviad Gamsakhurdia and his father - Georgian writer Konstantin Gamsakhurdia - away from the list "Great Ten of Georgia" run by the popular programme of local TV, where ten most important historical figures of the country are defined by polling citizens.

"It's vicious to define best of the best in the history of Georgia by public polling," Manana Archvadze-Gamsakhurdia asserts. She also insists on withdrawal of all Georgian saints from the list "Great Ten of Georgia", which is also demanded by the Georgian Patriarchy, as the "Interfax" reports.

The programme "Great Ten of Georgia" has the aim to define the greatest people of the nation for its whole history. Earlier, the Georgian Orthodox Church spoke against this programme and demanded that all the saints should be taken away from the list of nominees. The programme was suspended, but after consultations with the Patriarchy it was resumed in full format.