Georgians protest outside ex-president Saakashvili’s prison

RUSTAVI, Georgia (AP) — Hundreds of protesters are rallying outside a prison in Georgia to demand that the country’s incarcerated former President Mikheil Saakashvili be transferred to a private clinic because he is weakening while on a hunger strike. Saakashvili declared the hunger strike hours after being put in the prison in Rustavi, south of the capital of Tbilisi, on Oct. 1. He was arrested that day after returning to Georgia from Ukraine, aiming to bolster opposition forces ahead of municipal elections. Saakashvili left Georgia in 2013. He later was stripped of his citizenship and sentenced in absentia to six years in prison on abuse-of-power convictions. Supporters say Saakashvili’s health has seriously deteriorated while in prison, but Georgian authorities say his vital signs are normal.