Georgian Civil Activist Goes on Hunger Strike in Occupied Tskhinvali
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Monday, July 2
The Georgian civil activist in the Russian-occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region of Georgia has announced a hunger strike to protest against the so-called Akhalgori District Prosecutor’s Office actions and her unofficial, 11-months of house arrest.
Mearakishvili, who has been vocal about the activities of the de facto authorities in Tskhinvali, says she is unable to leave the occupied territory due to two fabricated charges against her, which are used by the so-called Prosecutor’s Office to “morally and materially” affect her.
Mearakishvili says that she will go on a hunger strike on July 2 to attract the public’s attention to her case and illegalities against her.
She says that the de facto prosecutor’s office of Akhalgori "is stretching time” and refuses to submit her case to court.
“The action aims to weaken me both materially and morally,” Mearakishvili says. "My rights are violated on a daily basis and the hunger strike is my protest against the illegality.”
The de facto prosecutor’s office of Akhalgori officially charged Mearakishvili on June 12 with illegally receiving the "citizenship of South Ossetia” with fabricated documents.
Mearakishvili was also charged for the slander of the ruling South Ossetia party. However, the so-called Supreme Court of Akhalgori found her innocent in the case this month.
Mearakishvili, who is supported by the central government of Georgia and members of the international community, says that the legal proceedings against her aim to silence her.
The Georgian Public Defender Nino Lomjaria nominated Mearakishvili for the United Nations Human Rights Prize and Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize for her "outstanding contribution to defending the rights of conflict-affected population” in May.
Lomjaria wrote that activist and blogger Mearakishvili has been reporting on the critical human rights situation in the occupied town of Akhalgori and the violation of the rights of local people by the de facto authorities, "at the risk of putting her own life, health and safety in danger”.
Tskhinvali has been occupied by Russia since the Russia-Georgia 2008.
