Georgian hunger-striking ex-president needs urgent treatment -rights group

FILE PHOTO: Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgia's former president, speaks during an interview with Reuters at his house in the village of Lisnyky outside Kiev, Ukraine May 8, 2020. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko/File Photo

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Georgia's hunger-striking former president Mikheil Saakashvili is being mistreated in a prison hospital and urgently needs special treatment in intensive care, a Georgian human rights group said on Wednesday.

Saakashvili, who has been on hunger strike in prison for more than a month and a half, may soon face various health complications, including heart failure, gastrointestinal bleeding and coma, the Public Defender of Georgia, or human rights ombudsman, said in a statement.