Ukrainian Human Rights Commissioner arrives in Georgia to meet Saakashvili in prison
Lyudmyla Denisova says she came to Georgia to find out whether Mikheil Saakashvili’s human rights are being protected. Photo: Lyudmyla Denisova's Facebook page
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Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, Lyudmyla Denisova, is currently visiting former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili in Rustavi Prison No.12.
Denisova says that she's come to Georgia to find out whether Saakashvili’s human rights are being protected.
I would like to personally receive information regarding his health condition, as he’s been on a hunger strike for 27 days. I want to make sure that he will receive adequate treatment in the prison clinic, the advocate told the press.
Denisova added that she will also determine whether Saakashvili’s Ukrainian lawyer was denied entry to Georgia on legitimate grounds.
Saakashvili, who is currently a citizen of Ukraine, fled Georgia in 2013, a year after his United National Movement (UNM) party lost parliamentary elections. In 2018, a Georgian court convicted him in absentia on two counts of abuse of power and sentenced him to six years in prison.
The ex-president was arrested in Tbilisi on October 1, after his clandestine return to Georgia.
Saakashvili is currently facing five additional charges, including illegal seizure of property, embezzlement, illegal rally dispersal, and illegal border crossing.
The former president denies all charges, considers himself a political prisoner, and has been on a hunger strike since his arrest.
Saakashvili’s Georgian lawyers demand he be treated in a civil hospital rather than a prison clinic, as his health is reportedly deteriorating.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili denied the allegations, saying that Saakashvili is ‘staging a show’ with his hunger strike to spark tension ahead of municipal election runoffs on October 30.
Former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili’s Ukrainian lawyer Evgen Grushovets claims he was denied entry to Georgia. The lawyer says that he was stopped at Tbilisi International Airport and sent back to Ukraine without any explanation.
The United National Movement (UNM) opposition party has called on the international community and NGOs to ‘take all measures’ to protect former president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili, who has been on hunger strike for 26 days. The UNM chairman Nika Melia said yesterday that Saakashvili needs to be brought to a multi-profile civil clinic and not to a prison hospital as the Georgian Dream government officials had offered.
Georgian former president Mikheil Saakashvili, who was arrested in Tbilisi on October 1 after eight years in political exile, has demanded the Georgian Dream (GD) government take him to court, where he will provide ‘all true information’ about him both for the international community and the Georgian people.
Former president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili, who has been on hunger strike since his arrest in Tbilisi on October 1, says that he is ready to take medicines to ‘maintain the strength to think and act’, but vows that he will not suspend his hunger strike.
Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, Lyudmyla Denisova, has said that former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili’s rights have been breached on several grounds. After visiting Saakashvili in Rustavi Prison No.12 earlier today, Denisova reported that Saakashvili’s rights have been violated on procedural, medical, and religious grounds.
Georgian Justice Minister Rati Bregadze says that ‘all safety and other conditions’ are ensured for former president Mikheil Saakashvili in Rustavi Prison No.12, and, if there is a necessity, the former president will be helicoptered to a clinic.
Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, Lyudmyla Denisova, met with the Ambassador of Georgia to Ukraine, Giorgi Zakarashvili, to discuss the issue of tightening the border control procedure for Ukrainian citizens entering Georgia. In her post on Telegram, Denisova wrote that during the meeting with the ambassador she expressed concern over the fact that Ukrainians have experienced entry refusal since October 2021.
Ukrainian high officials have called on the government of Georgia to transfer the former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili from a prison hospital to a private clinic. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has expressed disappointment over the fact that Saakashvili, who is currently a citizen of Ukraine, was transferred to a prison hospital this evening without the Ukrainian side being informed.