During a court hearing on the charge of exceeding power during the November 7, 2007, crackdown on anti-government protesters, Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgia's imprisoned ex-president, launched a "full, permanent hunger strike."

Ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili said that his choice was motivated by the Georgian Dream government's treatment of him and the "people."

He argued that the Georgian prison system cannot offer proper medical care for conditions he suffered during his initial 50-day hunger strike, citing the opinions of a committee of specialists organised by the Public Defender and the Empathy, a rehabilitation facility for torture victims.

In addition, the ex-President accused the Rustavi prison administration of abuse, alleging that the authorities have chosen to prohibit physicians and nurses from visiting Saakashvili in his cell and have decided to remove a physician from duty.

Considering this, Saakashvili said he collapsed twice after being transferred from the Gori military clinic to the jail.

According to Saakashvili, "the kleptocratic dictatorship in place" and the "mafia clan" want to assassinate him on Russian President Vladimir Putin's orders.

He requested that his American and Dutch physicians, as well as personal physician Nikoloz Kipshidze and a medical group established by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, be allowed to see him in prison.

The news comes after Saakashvili ended a 50-day hunger strike in November when the Georgian government decided to move him to the Gori military clinic after a protracted stalemate. On December 30, 2021, the ex-President was released from the hospital.