Footage released showing Saakashvili’s transfer to a prison clinic [VIDEO]
Former president Mikheil Saakashvili was transferred to a prison hospital on Monday. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
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The Special Penitentiary Service of Georgia has released a video which shows the transfer of former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili from Rustavi prison to the Gldani Prison No.18 hospital on Monday, to prevent complications to his health on the 39th day of hunger strike.
Georgian Justice Minister Rati Bregadze stated earlier today that the footage was released to dismiss speculations by the opposition and the former president that Saakashvili ‘was abducted’ from Rustavi prison and brought to Gldani prison hospital, ‘where he was attacked by the prison staff.’
The Special Penitentiary Service of Georgia released the footage on Thursday showing the transfer of Saakashvili:
The opposition is lying and says that Saakashvili was abducted, while he was taken from one prison to another in accordance with the law to prevent any complications to his health,” Bregadze said.
He stated that the footage shows how Saakashvili declines to leave the emergency vehicle and then himself verbally and physically abuses prison staff.
Opposition representatives said the video ‘is very hard to watch,’ and confirms the 'inhuman treatment’ of Saakashvili.
Saakashvili was arrested in Tbilisi on October 1 after a clandestine return from eight years in political exile. He considers himself a ‘political prisoner’ and has claimed to be on hunger strike since the day of his arrest.
However, Georgian Dream officials say that Saakashvili is ‘staging a show’ with his hunger strike and that he had plans with his United National Movement opposition party to cause unrest during his transfer to a hospital.
In a letter released from the prison hospital earlier this week, Saakashvili claimed that the purpose of his transfer was his physical destruction under Russian president Vladimir Putin’s order.
Georgian opposition representatives have welcomed the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) monitoring Saakashvili’s health, in accordance with a complaint submitted by the former president's lawyers.
The State Inspector’s Service will investigate the alleged physical assault on ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili when he was transferred to Gldani prison hospital on November 8. Saakashvili claims that prison staff verbally and physically abused him, saying ‘[they] dragged me to the ground and hit me several times in the neck.’
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.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has refused to answer journalists’ questions about the European Court of Human Rights' (ECHR) judgement of former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili’s complaint and his transfer to Gldani No. 18 prison hospital on November 8.
The European Court of Human Rights has rejected a complaint by former president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili on his transfer to a private clinic from a prison hospital, and instead urged him to call off his hunger strike, the Georgian Ministry of Justice said yesterday and released an interim judgement of the court.The court demanded from the Georgian government to inform them about Saakashvili’s state of health and ensure proper medical care for him now and in the post-hunger-strike period.
The Georgian Special Penitentiary Service has released another video of former president Mikheil Saakashvili, in which Saakashvili is in an emergency vehicle being taken to Gldani Prison No.18 hospital on Monday, on the 39th day of his hunger strike.
Tbilisi City Court has denied the accusations of former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili’s legal team that the court restricted the ex-president’s right to protection by banning his two lawyers from attending the trial on November 10.
Georgian Justice Minister Rati Bregadze has stated that the Georgian Dream government ‘will be happy’ if former president Mikheil Saakashvili calls off his 43-day hunger strike ‘without raising preconditions.’Saakashvili said yesterday that he is ready to stop his hunger strike if he is brought to a civil clinic which will provide proper medical care in the post-hunger strike period.
MEP Anna Fotyga has come to Georgia to see former president Mikheil Saakashvili in Gldani Prison No.18 hospital, while MEP Viola von Cramon has criticized the Georgian Dream government for the release of videos yesterday which show the transfer of Saakashvili from Rustavi prison to Gldani on Monday, on his 39th day of hunger strike.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky have discussed the issue of former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili, who is a citizen of Ukraine, during a recent phone conversation.
A total of 20 NGOs have addressed the Council of Europe Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) to observe the human rights situation of former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili who has been on hunger strike in prison for 43 days.
Former Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili has stated that the video footage of ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili's transfer to a prison hospital is an ‘insult to every Georgian and is detrimental to both the country and the government.'
The son of former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili, Eduard Saakashvili, has released a video address in which he asks the Government of Georgia to transfer the ex-president to a civil hospital, noting that his father ‘is in danger.'
The State Inspector's Service of Georgia has launched an investigation into alleged 'inhumane treatment' of former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili who is currently in prison. In the course of the investigation, the Inspector's Service has questioned the Rustavi prison employee, who said that he was invited for questioning 'by mistake.'
Georgia’s State Inspector’s Office, which studies alleged offences committed by law enforcement agencies and officers, has fined the country’s Justice Ministry and the Special Penitentiary Service 2,000 GEL for the release of videos of former president Mikheil Saakashvili in prison.
The Special Penitentiary Service of Georgia has dismissed allegations by former president Mikheil Saakashvili that he is being denied the right to visitation and that his TV set has been confiscated.Saakashvili is currently undergoing treatment in Gori military hospital after ending a 50-day hunger strike. He was arrested in Tbilisi on October 1 after returning to Georgia from eight years in political exile.
Tbilisi City Court has annulled the decision of the State Inspector’s Service of Georgia fining the country’s Justice Ministry and the Special Penitentiary Service 2,000 GEL for the release of footage of ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili in prison, the Inspector’s Service reports.
The legal team of the imprisoned former president Mikheil Saakashvili has appealed to the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia to identify him as a victim following a Tbilisi City Court decision to overturn a State Inspector Service ruling against the Special Penitentiary Service for disclosing the politician’s personal data.