Ukrainian officials call on Georgian government to provide ‘proper medical care’ for Saakashvili
Ukrainian MFA urged Georgian authorities to transfer Saakashvili to a civil clinic ‘to provide proper medical care.’ Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge
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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.
Ukrainian MFA urged Georgian authorities to transfer Saakashvili to a civil clinic ‘to provide proper medical care.’
The MPs from the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada parliament have appealed to the Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili and Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili to provide high quality medical care for Saakashvili and extradite him to Ukraine ‘as soon as possible.’
Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, Lyudmyla Denisova, who had visited Saakashvili in Rustavi Prison No.12, further urged the Georgian authorities to provide Saakashvili with ‘proper treatment that can save his life.’
Denisova also asked the international human rights organisations to condemn the actions of the Georgian officials.
Saakashvili, who was arrested in Tbilisi on October 1 after a clandestine return from eight years in political exile, considers himself a ‘political prisoner’ and claims to be on a hunger strike.
The former president was transferred to Gldani Prison No.18 hospital to ‘prevent deterioration in his health due to increased risks,' the penitentiary service reported this evening.
The Special Penitentiary Service of Georgia has released the video footage of the former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili leaving the Rustavi Prison No.12, which refutes the speculation that Saakashvili was transferred to Gldani prison clinic by force. The service said it posted the footage due to ‘high public interest.’
Georgian justice minister Rati Bregadze has stated that former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili physically insulted prison staff in Gldani No. 18 facility, where allegedly he was forcibly brought.
Former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili, who reportedly has been on hunger strike for 39 days, has been transferred to Gldani No.18 prison hospital ‘to prevent deterioration in his health due to increased risks,' the Georgian Special Penitentiary Service reports.
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.
Georgian Public Defender Nino Lomjaria has stated that the Gldani No.18 prison hospital, where ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili was transferred earlier today, is not provided with two medical devices - MRT and catheterisation equipment - that were recommended by the medical council.
Ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili who was transferred to Gldani prison hospital today, has released the letter from the facility stating that the purpose of the recent activities is his physical destruction under Russian president Vladimir Putin’s order.
Civil organisations have called on the government of Georgia to transfer the former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili from Gldani Prison No.18 hospital to an ‘alternative medical institution. In a joint statement, seven organisations maintain that Saakashvili’s transfer to a prison hospital posed the risk of ‘escalating the political situation’ in the country, and the ‘full responsibility’ for the events rests with the government.
US Ambassador Kelly Degnan and EU Ambassador Carl Hartzell have called on the Georgian government to provide proper medical care for the imprisoned ex-president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili. The ambassadors further expressed their support for the Ombudswoman Nino Lomjaria, who is frequently criticised by the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party members.