Georgian PM, Ukrainian president discuss Saakashvili issue on phone
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky have spoken by phone regarding Mikheil Saakashvili. Photo: government of Georgia press office.
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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.
Zelensky tweeted that he told Garibashvili that Saakashvili’s rights ‘must be fully protected’ in accordance with international standards and that the relatives of the former president and Ukrainian doctors should be allowed to see the former president in Gldani Prison No.18 hospital.
In a phone conversation with @GharibashviliGe, I stressed that the rights of ???????? citizen @SaakashviliM must be fully guaranteed in accordance with international norms. Applied for admission of Mikheil Saakashvili's mother, relatives, and Ukrainian doctors to him.
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) November 12, 2021
The Administration of the Government of Georgia cited Garibashvili as saying that Saakashvili's health, like all prisoners in Georgia, is being monitored by highly-qualified doctors round the clock.
Garibashvili also said that lawyers and family members have never been barred from seeing the former president in prison.
Saakashvili has had more than 100 visitors since his arrest (in Tbilisi on October 1),” Garibashvili told Zelensky.
He also told the Ukrainian president that Saakashvili verbally and physically abused prison and medical staff during his transfer from Rustavi prison to Gldani prison hospital on Monday, and the prison administration acted in accordance with the law to bring Saakashvili to the prison hospital to prevent complications in his health.
- Footage released showing Saakashvili’s transfer to a prison clinic [VIDEO
- More footage of Saakashvili released on his way to prison hospital [VIDEO]
Garibashvili said that Saakashvili’s actions are ‘provocative’ and ‘aim to cause unrest’ in Georgia.
Prime Minister of Georgia Holds a Phone Conversation with President of Ukrainehttps://t.co/4O7I4OTMNo
— Georgian Government (@GovernmentGeo) November 12, 2021
Citizens of Ukraine have no legitimate right to intervene in the domestic affairs of Georgia,” Garibashvili told Zelensky, noting that Saakashvili illegally entered Georgia from Ukraine at the end of September after eight years in political exile.
Garibashvili also said there is no need for Ukrainian doctors to concern themselves with Saakashvili’s health, as the former president ‘has been supervised by professional and highly-qualified Georgian doctors’ since the day one of his hunger strike on October 1.
The Georgian Special Penitentiary Service released two videos of Saakashvili yesterday showing his transfer to Gldani Prison No.18 hospital on Monday, on the 39th day of Saakashvili’s hunger strike.
Ukrainian media outlets cited deputy FM of Ukraine Mykola Tochicki as saying yesterday that the Georgian government should treat Saakashvili with dignity.
Saakashvili’s Ukrainian lawyer Yevgeny Grushovets also stated that Georgian inmates ‘are not treated in Ukrainian prisons the way Saakashvili is treated in Georgia.’
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 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.
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.
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.
Georgia’s former president Mikheil Saakashvili continues his hunger strike and refuses to take medication or receive an infusion as the government has not yet responded to his demand to transfer him to a civil clinic, Saakashvili’s lawyer Dimitri Sadzaglishvili stated earlier today.
Tbilisi City Court Judge Badri Kochlamazashvili says that trial hearings in a case involving former president Mikheil Saakashvili may be held in prison if Saakashvili requests.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has stated that he is ‘personally involved’ in negotiations with the Georgian authorities regarding ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili, who was arrested in Tbilisi on October 1 and currently is undergoing treatment in Gori Military Hospital following a hunger strike, Ukrainian online media outlet Ukrainska Pravda reports.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has called on the Georgian government ‘to treat ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili with respect,’ calling a recent attempt on December 27 to transfer him from Gori Military Hospital to Rustavi No. 12 prison ‘improper.'