British medical expert visits imprisoned ex-pres Saakashvili in Tbilisi clinic ahead of NGO recommendations release
Mikheil Saakashvili, the third president who took office following the 2003 rose revolution in Georgia, currently is a citizen of Ukraine. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge
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British medical expert Cornelius Katona on Tuesday visited the convicted former president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili in a Tbilisi clinic following claims by Saakashvili’s lawyers and family about his deteriorated health.
Katona, invited by the domestic non-governmental human rights organisation Empathy which is involved in monitoring the former president’s health, arrived at the Vivamedi clinic along with Saakashvili’s lawyer Giorgi Mshvenierade and Mariam Jishkariani, the head of the NGO.
Jishkariani said Katona, along with other foreign experts, would examine Saakashvili’s health and his conclusions would be included in the final recommendations of her organisation over the imprisoned politician’s current condition, expected to be released on November 18.
She also noted the document, which would be translated into English for foreign professionals involved in medical checks, would be a “confidential document”, with the NGO publishing only certain recommendations in its forthcoming press release.
Cornelius Katona in among several foreign medical professionals, who have visited and examined Saakashvili after his arrest in Georgia last year. Photo: IPN.
All diagnoses are confidential according to the domestic laws and the constitution of Georgia. I can tell you that Saakashvili’s condition is critical, and he urgently needs transportation abroad both for [accurate] diagnoses and further treatment, since no correct diagnoses have been made in the country so far to ensure effective treatment”, Jishkariani said.
Responding to the claims over improper treatment of Saakashvili, justice minister Rati Bregadze reiterated on Tuesday the former president’s rights were “fully protected” in the country, including his rights to adequate medical aid.
The official also reacted to criticism by opposition politicians over the recent non-admission of Małgorzata Gosiewska, a Polish MP, to the clinic to see Saakashvili.
Saakashvili has had 1,500 visitors so far. Everyone who has the right to visit him as part of our legislation is allowed to see him. Gosiewska is a politician, a citizen of a foreign country, and she had no right to visit [the former president]”, Bregadze said.
Justice minister Rati Bregadze has stated that Saakashvili had been visited by 1,500 since his arrest last October. Photo: justice ministry press office.
In comments early on Tuesday, Saakashvili’s lawyer Shalva Khachapuridze said the former president could be suffering from tuberculosis and dementia, but added additional medical checks were mandatory to confirm the potential diagnosis.
Georgian Dream authorities have maintained the rights of the former president have been protected, including in his transfer for treatment to Gori Military Hospital in November and then to Vivamedi clinic in May.
Arrested in Tbilisi on his clandestine return to the country ahead of October 2021 municipal elections, Saakashvili has claimed his former 49-day hunger strike and “improper treatment” while in custody have “seriously deteriorated” his health.
Facing several charges, he is currently serving a six-year prison term after he was sentenced in absentia in 2018 on two separate charges of abuse of power.
The trial of the jailed Georgia’s former president Mikheil Saakashvili in the case of illegal crossing of the state border, set to have been held on Tuesday at the Vivamed clinic, was postponed, the prosecutor of the mentioned case Levan Vepkhvadze said, explaining Saakashvili had refused to testify and said he had “nothing to discuss” with the court.
Georgian Justice Minister Rati Bregadze said on Monday the Government may invite independent medical experts to check the health of the jailed former President Mikheil Saakashvili, in a bid to “remove all questions” around the matter amid claims by Saakashvili’s attorneys and family that the former President is in “urgent need” of “proper treatment” abroad.
The distancing of imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili from Georgian politics is “unimaginable”, Khatia Dekanoidze, the Chair of the United National Movement party in the state legislature, said on Wednesday in comments on recent statements by Saakashvili’s lawyers about the former President's plans to withdraw from politics due to “poor health”.
Medical professionals and not politicians or lawyers should discuss the matter of health of the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili, ruling Georgian Dream party MP and former Health Minister David Sergeenko said on Friday in comments on recent statements by Saakashvili’s lawyers about the former President's plans to withdraw from politics due to poor health.
Kakha Kaladze, the mayor of Tbilisi and the secretary general of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Monday said the question of allowing a transfer of the imprisoned former president Mikheil Saakashvili abroad due to his health condition was “not up to the ruling party”.
The special penitentiary service on Sunday said it had not been provided with any official report, confirming the authenticity of information disseminated by the imprisoned former president Mikheil Saakashvili’s lawyer about the possible poisoning of the prisoner.
Mikheil Saakashvili, the imprisoned former president of Georgia, on Monday dismissed claims by his lawyer Valeri Gelbakhiani over his alleged poisoning while in custody, stating he had “never” told any of his lawyers he had suspected poisoning had triggered his current “complicated health”.
Georgian president Salome Zourabaichvili told BBC HARDTalk on Monday she had “no power” to pardon the imprisoned former president Mikheil Saakashvili, who, along with his lawyers and some opposition figures, has claimed to be suffering from serious health issues in detention.
Georgian president Salome Zourabichvili on Thursday said domestic courts should allow the imprisoned former president Mikheil Saakshvili’s transfer abroad for medical treatment if the anticipated report by health professionals studying his condition established ”serious complications”.