Ex. pres. Saakashvili says medicals council politicised, demands alternative commission
In response to President Salome Zurabishvili’s recent statement that she will ‘never’ pardon the ex-president, Mikheil Saakashvili claims he does not expect to be pardoned by the current government. Photo: Shot from interior Ministry video/Archive
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Ex-president of Georgia Mikheil Saalashvili, who has been on hunger strike for 35 days in Rustavi Prison No.12, refuses to meet with a medical council claiming it is politicized and demands an alternative commission.
Saakashvili’s lawyer Nika Gvaramia says, although his defendant trusts and respects every member of the medical council, he will no more participate in their observations.
Day 35 of a hunger strike. #FreeSaakashvili
— Mikheil Saakashvili (@SaakashviliM) November 4, 2021
Arrested a day before the municipal elections in Georgia Saakashvili faces several criminal charges including the illegal crossing of the state border. He denies the charges, calling himself a ‘political prisoner’.
The opposition, which is holding permanent rallies near the penitentiary facility , calls on Saakashvili to stop hunger strike. His lawyers meanwhile demand Saakashvili’s transfer to a civil hospital for treatment amid the deterioration of his health.
- President Zurabishvili on pardoning ex. pres. Saakashvili: no and never
- Saakashvili: don’t expect me to be pardoned
- Opposition slams president for her ‘strong refusal’ to pardon Saakashvili
However, the Justice Ministry says the prison hospital is safe and fully equipped and there is no need to take the ex-president elsewhere.
Public Defender Nino Lomjaria disagrees. She says the hospital offered by the government is not quite fit to provide Saakashvil with all the medical services he requires. Therefore, Lomjaria calls for the Justice Ministry and the Special Penitentiary Service to enable his treatment at a multi-functional hospital.
Georgian Patriarch Ilia II, who is the most trusted figure in the country according to public polls, has for the second time requested the country’s former president, Mikheil Saakashvili, to suspend his hunger strike.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has reiterated her previous claims that she will not pardon arrested ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili. She said Saakashvili, who was arrested a day before the October 2 municipal elections in Tbilisi ‘does not satisfy any criteria of a political prisoner or of a victim of innocence’.
The ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party MP, Mamuka Mdinaradze, says that he is sure the arrested former president of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, will feel good on the 41st day on hunger strike and will appear in a funny situation.
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.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Kakha Kuchava visited Droa opposition party leader Elene Khoshtaria, who has been on a hunger strike in the parliament building for three days, demanding former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili’s transfer to a civil clinic rather than a prison hospital. Saakashvili, who was arrested in Tbilisi on October 1 after returning from eight years in political exile, considers himself a ‘political prisoner’ and has reportedly been on a hunger strike for 36 days.
The Penitentiary Service of Georgia has denied speculation that an ambulance was called to Rustavi Prison No.12 due to an alleged deterioration in the health of former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili. The penitentiary service said that the ambulance was called to administer vaccinations to prisoners in Prison No.16, which is adjacent to the Prison No.12.
Minister of Justice of Georgia, Rati Bregadze, has alleged the imprisoned former president of the country, Mikheil Saakashvili, eats diet outside "medical designation" in contradiction to his hunger strike, and in contrast to comments by the private physician of the politician.
An opposition protest is ongoing outside the No 12 Penitentiary Facility in the city of Rustavi, located outside capital Tbilisi, with demands of moving the imprisoned former president Mikheil Saakashvili from the prison to a private clinic due to health reasons.
Zurab Chkhaidze, a clinical director at Vivamedi clinic in Tbilisi where the convicted former president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili has been undergoing treatment since May, on Thursday dismissed claims by some opposition politicians over the “extremely poor condition” of his health as “not true”.
Zurab Chkhaidze, a clinical director at Vivamedi clinic in Tbilisi where the convicted former President Mikheil Saakashvili is undergoing treatment, on Wednesday said the former official’s health condition was “stable and improved”.