Former Georgian Defense Minister Irakly Okruashvili, who is in a pre-trial detention center in Paris, has announced he is going on a hunger strike with the demand that Georgian authorities order a second round of the recent presidential election in the country, Eka Beselia, Okruashvili's lawyer, told the Rustavi-2 TV channel in a telephone interview on Sunday.
"Irakly Okruashvili has been on a hunger strike for four days. He demands that Georgian authorities order a second round of the presidential election. He hopes that the political process in Georgia will be compatible with the interests of the Georgian people," Beselia said.
"Hopefully, Irakly Okruashvili will be granted political asylum in France," she said.
Okruashvili was transferred from a prison in Berlin to one in Paris several days ago. He was arrested last November in Germany after the Georgian Prosecutor General's Office issued an international warrant for his arrest. Georgian authorities accuse the former defense minister of corruption and abuse of office. The Georgian Prosecutor General's Office opened a criminal case against him after he publicly accused Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and his team of committing serious crimes. ( Interfax )