Saakashvili's doctor: ex-president's condition is 'severe'
After an episode of fainting, Saakashvili was offered to be transferred to Gori Military Hospital, which he agreed to. Photo: qartli.ge
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The imprisoned former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili's personal doctor Nikoloz Kipshidze has said that the ex-president who was transferred from a prison clinic to a military hospital last night is in 'severe' condition.
Saakashvili was arrested in Tbilisi on October 1 after a clandestine return from eight years in political exile. He denied all charges and announced a hunger strike.
The former president, who was serving his sentence in Rustavi Prison No.12, was transferred to Gldani prison hospital on November 8 to ‘prevent deterioration in his health due to increased risks,' the penitentiary service reported.
Saakashvili released a letter from a prison hospital on November 11, saying that he was ready to call off his hunger strike if taken to a civil clinic for rehabilitation.
After an episode of fainting, Saakashvili was offered by the government to be transferred to Gori Military Hospital, which he agreed to.
Saakashvili's lawyer Nika Gvaramia said that the ex-president's transfer to the military hospital went 'normally,' 'without accidents.'
Saakashvili was transferred to Gori Military Hospital last night. Photo: qartli.ge
The chairman of Saakashvili's United National Movement (UNM) party Nika Melia asserted that the UNM will not hold any rallies near the Gori military hospital. However, he maintained that the party will fight for Saakashvili's release from 'unlawful imprisonment.'
The UNM members, Droa opposition party leader Elene Khoshtaria and opera singer Paata Burchuladze, who were on hunger strike demanding Saakasvili's transfer to a civil clinic, also called off their hunger strike following the ex-president's transfer from a prison hospital.
In his latest letter, Saakashvili wrote that he is ready to stand before a 'fair court' to defend the 'historical truth. The former president maintains that his detention is 'illegal.'
Saakashvili, who is currently a citizen of Ukraine, fled Georgia in 2013, a year after the UNM lost the parliamentary elections to the Georgian Dream. In 2018, Georgian court convicted him in absentia on two counts of abuse of power and sentenced him to six years in prison.
He is now facing five additional charges, including illegal seizure of property, embezzlement, illegal rally dispersal, and illegal border crossing.
The former president Mikheil Saakashvili has accepted the Georgian government’s offer to be transferred to Gori military hospital and is ready to stop the 50-day hunger strike after the admittance to the clinic, ex-president’s lawyer Nika Gvaramia announces.
Droa opposition party leader Elene Khoshtaria has decided to stop her 17-day hunger strike today after former president Mikheil Saakashvili was offered transfer to Gori military hospital by the Ministry of Justice. Khoshtaria, who was on hunger strike in the parliament building of Georgia, was demanding Saakashvili’s transfer to a civil clinic ‘for proper treatment.’
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.
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.'
US senators Jim Risch, Jeanne Shaheen, Ron Johnson, and Ben Cardin have said that the former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili who is currently serving a prison sentence, 'deserves to be treated fairly and with dignity, in accordance with international standards and Georgian law.'
The Droa opposition party leader Elene Khoshtaria, who has ended her hunger strike after 17 days, is reportedly ‘stable’ and under medical supervision. Khoshtaria stopped her protest last night after her demand to transfer the ex-president from a prison hospital to a multifunctional clinic was met.
Former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili’s personal doctor Nika Kipshidze says that the ex-president has post-traumatic stress disorder following a 50-day hunger strike, and thus requires the attention of mental health professionals.