Court hearing on granting ex-Pres. Saakashvili release or sentence postponement delayed again

The trial hearing on whether the imprisoned former President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili will be granted release or postponement of the rest of his sentence on medical grounds has been delayed from Wednesday to next week.

The development comes as doctors refused to allow the former official to appear at the session in person due to his condition, while a lack of proper technical equipment at the Vivamedi civilian clinic - where Saakashvili has been receiving treatment since May - precluded the alternate option of ensuring his engagement in the hearing via video link.

The complications have meant the hearing has been postponed for the second time in a week, after the initial delay from December 9 due to absence of means of ensuring Saakashvili’s remote participation from the clinic.

Ahead of the judge’s decision on the Wednesday hearing, the prosecution had requested 30 days to study the recently released health reports on Saakashvili’s condition, used by his lawyers in their appeal to the court on December 1 to either release him or postpone the rest of his sentence.

However, judge Giorgi Arevadze dismissed the prosecution’s motion and postponed the trial hearing by only a week.

To prevent the spread of "fake information" over former President's health and "exerting pressure" on court to grant his release on medical grounds, Justice Minister  Bregadze  on Tuesday said his body could be "forced" to publish "certain footage", which "clearly shows" how Saakashvili was refusing to follow doctors' instructions and hindering the court's activities. Photo: Justice Ministry press office. 

In their protest of the outcome, Saakashvili’s lawyers have claimed “every minute matters for saving” the former official, and criticised the Special Penitentiary Service for the absence of hardware in the clinic for ensuring his participation in the court session. 

In response, Nika Abramishvili, a representative of the Service, said  “appropriate technical means need adequate maintenance that is currently unavailable at the clinic”. 

Reacting to controversies over the trial and Saakashvili’s health, Justice Minister Rati Bregadze reiterated on Tuesday the former official was engaged in “self-harm”, eating “what he wants and when he wants [and] refusing to follow doctors’ instructions”, in a bid to “purposefully” complicate his condition and achieve the release from prison. 

Saakashvili, a citizen of Ukraine, was arrested in Tbilisi in October 2021 on his clandestine return to Georgia ahead of municipal elections.

The former president is serving a six-year term for abuse of power in two separate cases stemming back to his time in office, while three other cases are pending.