Saakashvili stops cooperating with medical council, refuses to receive treatment
In his recent letter, former president Saakashvili also called on Georgian citizens to actively participate in the election run-offs, noting that ‘the extension of my life is entirely tied to your decision tomorrow.’ Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
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Former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili, who has been on hunger strike since his arrest in Tbilisi on October 1, announced earlier today that he will no longer cooperate with the medical council and will refuse to receive hunger-related treatment.
Saakashvili's lawyer Giorgi Gelkhauri stated earlier today that the reason for the ex-president’s recent decision is the Georgian government’s refusal to transfer him to a civil hospital.
It was established that there [prison hospital] is no technical equipment with which Mikheil Saakashvili can receive qualified medical treatment,” said Gelkhauri.
“I’m appealing for help, not for myself, but for a Georgian democracy by taking this desperate step of coming and turning myself in. I wanted both, to express solidarity to my suffering nation and awaken the consciousness of the World.” #FreeSaakashvili pic.twitter.com/eNToDIGSVe
— Mikheil Saakashvili (@SaakashviliM) October 21, 2021
He also noted that Saakashvili requires medical help in order to be able to stay sane, write letters and address the public before municipal election run-offs scheduled for tomorrow.
In his recent letter, former president Saakashvili also called on Georgian citizens to actively participate in the election run-offs, noting that ‘the extension of my life is entirely tied to your decision tomorrow.’
I strongly believe in reconciliation and unification of society with victory,” Saakashvili says.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said yesterday that Saakashvili has plans to stage a provocation if he is brought to a civil clinic, saying that the Georgian government has ensured comprehensive medical care for him in prison.
However, Gelkhauri places the responsibility for Saakashvili’s health on the state and PM Garibashvili.
Saakashvili, who served as the country’s third president from 2004 to 2013, was sentenced to six years imprisonment in two cases of abuse of power in absentia in 2018, and additionally is charged with several other offences, including illegal seizure of property, embezzlement, illegal rally dispersal, and illegal border crossing.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili says that former president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili will neither be released early from prison, nor will he be transferred to Ukraine. "This will never take place. If the government allows any of these scenarios to happen, it will be disrespectful to the rule of law,” Garibashvili says. Saakashvili, who is a citizen of Ukraine and currently chairs the Executive Committee of the Ukrainian National Reform Council, was arrested in Tbilisi on October 1, a day before the Georgian municipal elections.
The Georgian Special Penitentiary Service says that they have been forced to erect a new glass wall in a room where former president Mikheil Saakashvili was meeting with his lawyers, as ‘both Saakashvili and his lawyers were constantly violating coronavirus guidelines.’
Health minister Ekaterine Tikaradze has said that conditions in the hospital of prison No.18, where former president Mikheil Saakashvili may be brought, will be rechecked. Tikaradze explains that if the prison clinic does not meet Saakashvili’s needs, then other inmates might also ‘be at risk.’
Lawyers of ex. president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili demand he be treated in a civil hospital and not in prison as his condition is allegedly deteriorating. Saakashvili’s lawyer, Nika Gvaramia, says Saakashvili may be killed during instigated unrest in the prison hospital, which is why it is unacceptable to treat him there.
Overall six criminal charges are filed against recently arrested Georgian ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili who has been convicted to six years of imprisonment in two cases while four other criminal cases are still being heard in Tbilisi City Court.
The Georgian State Security Service (SSS) has stated that the obstruction of ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili’s transfer to the prison hospital is planned following the 29 days of hunger strike since his arrest on October 1.
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.
The head of the Georgian State Security Service (SSS) Grigol Liluashvili has stated earlier today that ‘interesting facts and proceedings await us ahead’ following the disclosure of an alleged plan to overthrow the government involving the obstruction of ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili’s transfer to the prison hospital who has been on hunger strike since October 1.
Imprisoned former president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili stated on his 54th birthday today in Gori military hospital that he returned to Georgia after eight years of political exile because the country ‘stopped development,’ and that he is ready to die if Georgia ‘is not freed’ from its current leadership.