Special Penitentiary Service dismisses ex. pres. Saakashvili’s allegations of being denied visitation rights, use of TV
Former president Mikheil Saakashvili called off his 50-day hunger strike after he accepted his transfer to Gori military hospital for treatment on November 19. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
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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.
Saakashvili said yesterday that he will not take any medication recommended by doctors after his 50-day hunger strike if the ‘restrictions are not lifted.’
He also said that the ‘protest will continue’ until the Ministry of Justice and the Special Penitentiary Service pay a fine imposed by the State Inspector’s Office for the release of videos which depict Saakashvili eating food in prison while on hunger strike and his transfer to Gldani prison last month.
The State Inspector’s Office demanded the ministry delete the videos ‘which include personal data’ from social media and official web pages.
The Special Penitentiary Service says Saakashvili is not being denied the right to meet with his family members and personal doctor; he has a TV set and ‘no restrictions have been imposed against him.’
The agency called on the former president to ‘refrain from spreading false information and misleading the public.’
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 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.’
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.
The Opposition United National Movement (UNM) party is demanding a meeting with Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili stating that she ‘has a historic chance to end the crisis in the country’ by pardoning ex-president Mikheil Saakshvili who is serving a sentence for abuse of power.
The third president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili, who was detained on October 1 based on several criminal charges, won’t be able to attend the court tomorrow, December 9 for health reasons. Saakashvili wrote on Facebook earlier today that the only reason he ‘definitely wanted to come was to encourage and support people who had suffered for months’ because of him.