I could not imagine that years later, the death penalty would be restored in Georgia and, ironically, restored for me

"I could not imagine that years later, the death penalty would be restored in Georgia, and, ironically, it would be restored to me," Mikheil Saakashvili said in an address:

"In 1998, I was the chairman of the legal committee of the then parliament. At my initiative, the Georgian parliament made a historic decision to abolish the death penalty in Georgia forever. I really could not imagine that, years later, the death penalty would be reinstated in Georgia and, by the irony of fate, restored for me.

No matter, everything happens, but evil can never overcome good. Here, I want to address everyone. Friends, I sit in jail and starve, not because it's the main topic. I did not become Ivanishvili's hostage so that the main topic was my release. Clearly, there is neither logic nor rationality in this. I am back, voluntarily taken hostage, I have surrendered, and now I am going to starve to death to contribute by my example to the liberation of our homeland, the preservation of its European path and the liberation from the clutches of the Russian oligarchy.

Therefore, it is completely unacceptable, and I ask everyone not to make the topic of my health a major issue on the agenda, not to overshadow with the issue of Saakashvili's hunger strike, our main goal: the issue of the usurped elections and the return of power to the Georgian people. My hunger strike is the means to an end, and we can not put the means ahead of the goal.

Finally, for me, as a Georgian Orthodox, today was a very important and benevolent day. I thank Reverend Nikoloz for my communion with the blessing of the Patriarch," Mikheil Saakashvili said in his address.