Saakashvili admitted to prison hospital in Tbilisi - penitentiary service

TBILISI. Nov 8 (Interfax) - Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has been transferred to a prison hospital in Tbilisi, the Georgian penitentiary service said in a statement circulated on Monday evening.

Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada deputy Yelyzaveta Yasko, Saakashvili's girlfriend, said that Saakashvili, who has been on a hunger strike for nearly 40 days, has been transferred from the Rustavi prison to a penitentiary facility in the Gldani district of Tbilisi without notifying his relatives and lawyers.

"Contrary to statements of members of the panel of doctors, the Georgian and the Ukrainian ombudsmen, and Ukraine's position, he has been transferred to Gldani, which is the most dangerous place for his life," Yasko said on her Facebook account on Monday.

Saakashvili's mother, Giuli Alasania, had told journalists earlier that her son had been taken away from the Rustavi prison on board a helicopter.

"According to my information, a panel of doctors gathered, who concluded that he should be transferred to a multi-profile hospital. At that very time, ignoring everything, he was taken away somewhere before our very eyes. Two armored cars drove by and a helicopter flew. We've been waiting for two hours, but there's no answer. He's not there, he's been taken away," Alasania told journalists in front of the prison, where she came together with her grandchildren to see Saakashvili.

Georgian media reported earlier that a helicopter had landed on the prison's territory.

Saakashvili's personal physician Nikoloz Kipshidze said earlier that, in the view of the panel of doctors, the ex-president, who is continuing a hunger strike, should be transferred to a multi-profile civilian hospital. Based on the results of Saakashvili's medical tests, the doctors unanimously concluded that he should be hospitalized, Kipshidze said.