State Inspector's Service investigates alleged 'inhumane treatment' of ex-pres. Saakashvili
The Inspector's Service has already questioned the Rustavi prison employee. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge
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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.
Saakashvili, who was serving his sentence in Rustavi Prison No. 12, was transferred to Gldani prison hospital on November 8 to ‘prevent a deterioration in his health due to increased risks,' the penitentiary service reported.
The former president later claimed that prison staff verbally and physically abused him during the transfer, saying ‘[they] dragged me to the ground and hit me several times in the neck.’
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.'
The Inspector's Service is also planning to question doctor Zurab Paghava, who took part in the medical council assessing Saakashvili's health.
The Special Penitentiary Service of Georgia released a video depicting Saakashvili's transfer to the prison hospital on November 11. As a response, the State Inspector's Service said that it is 'absolutely unacceptable' to publish personal data of the former Georgian president.
Georgian Public Defender Nino Lomjaria has stated that the medical council created to monitor the health condition of ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili ‘should intensify its work’ and called on the Georgian Justice Ministry and the Special Penitentiary Service to ‘ensure the full protection of his health.’
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.
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.
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.’
The former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili who is currently on a hunger strike in prison hospital has reportedly fainted during a meeting with his lawyers. Saakashvili's lawyer Nika Gvaramia has confirmed to the media that the former president was assisted by doctors and is now 'fine.'
The Georgian Justice Ministry has offered former president Mikheil Saakashvili a transfer to Gori military hospital in central Georgia, on the 50th day of his hunger strike. Saakashvili, the third president of Georgia who was convicted in absentia for abuse of power in 2018, says he returned after eight years in political exile to remove the Georgian Dream government from power.
23 members of the European Parliament have signed a letter calling the EU to consider sanctions against individuals who enabled 'degrading treatment' of the incarcerated former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili.
Georgian majoritarian MPs have put forward a new bill which proposes replacing the State Inspector's Service with Special Investigation and Personal Data Protection services.
A total of 17 NGOs have called on the Georgian government to ‘stop attacks on independent institutions’ following Georgian majoritarian MPs’ proposal to replace the State Inspector's Service, which investigates alleged offences committed by state officials and law enforcement agencies, with the Special Investigation and Personal Data Protection services.
Ruling Georgian Dream party Head Irakli Kobakhidze has stated that he is not against setting up a parliamentary commission of inquiry to investigate the alleged ‘inhumane treatment’ of former president Mikheil Saakashvili, who claims prison staff verbally and physically abused him during the transfer to Gldani prison hospital on November 8.