Special Penitentiary Service: ‘Imprisoned ex-President Saakashvili will temporarily stay in Gori Military Hospital‘

The Special Penitentiary Service of Georgia stated earlier today that former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili will temporarily stay in Gori Military Hospital.

The penitentiary service noted that doctors decided to discharge Saakashvili from the hospital on December 27, but he did not obey the lawful request of the Special Penitentiary Service to leave the hospital and be transferred to Rustavi No. 12 prison.

Minister of Justice Rati Bregadze said that following a nervous breakdown, Saakashvili was observed with blood pressure fluctuation. Therefore, the penitentiary service postponed Saakashvili’s transfer to Rustavi No. 12 prison.

Mikheil Saakashvili was transferred to Gori Military Hospital for treatment on November 19. He received all necessary medical assistance. As the treatment has been completed, a decision was made to discharge him from the hospital. He did not obey the legal request of the Special Penitentiary Service," Bregadze said.

Bregadze also said that if Saakashvili goes on hunger strike again after being transferred to Rustavi prison and needs medical treatment, he will be brought to Gldani prison No. 18 hospital. He noted that ‘this is the standard that exists in the penitentiary system, it applies to all prisoners and Saakashvili is no exception’.

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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, a 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.