Former president Saakashvili’s lawyers file court appeal for release on medical grounds
Former president Mikheil Saakashvili currently holds Ukrainian citizenship and chaired the executive committee of the Ukrainian national reforms council before his arrest in Tbilisi in October 2021. Photo: IPN
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Lawyers of Mikheil Saakashvili, the imprisoned former president of Georgia, on Thursday appealed to Tbilisi City Court for granting his release on medical grounds, citing a new report by a domestic rehabilitation centre that pointed to potential “coma and death” for the former official in detention.
The lawyers said Saakashvili’s release was a “primary goal”, while adding they would also accept postponement of his sentence.
The Empathy centre, a domestic non-governmental organisation monitoring Saakashvili’s health, on Thursday said its conclusion on the current condition of the former president, drafted with the involvement of 10 Georgian and six foreign health professionals, had been handed to lawyers on Tuesday.
The NGO said the 2,980-page document had pointed to more than 20 health issues, as well as possible intoxication, for Saakashvili between July 1 and November 28, and claimed the complications could lead to coma and death.
Without giving specific diagnoses, the organisation said Saakashvili suffered from neuro, mental and gasto-enterological issues, as well as fever with unidentified aetiology, anorexia, rapid weight loss, muscle breakdown, joint and vision problems. It also noted “multiple complications” could be the result of a possible intoxication, which could also trigger mental disorders.
Ruling party MP, former health minister David Sergeenko said politicians and lawyers did not allow doctors to work, over-politicising the health matters of ex-president Saakashvili. Photo: parliament press office
The organisation also said a “complete” toxicological examination was “impossible” either in the Vivamedi civilian clinic, where Saakashvili has been undergoing treatment since May, or in prison, and recommended the former president’s transfer for “accurate” diagnoses and “adequate treatment” to a healthcare facility either in the United States or Europe.
It also said Saakashvili reportedly was a victim of torture and inhumane treatment in custody, which had “seriously damaged him both mentally and physically”.
Responding to the claims, several MPs of the ruling Georgian Dream party said Saakashvili was attempting to evade punishment using the conclusions, adding he had been ensured “with all necessary services” while in prison.
GD MP David Sergeenko said he had “never seen or heard” such a “long series to be staged to clarify diagnoses by calling a concilium of health professionals”.
If doctors say that Saakashvili is in need of a toxicological examination, the examination will be performed here. If it is not possible, then samples - and not the patient - will be sent abroad. The only thing that may harm Saakashvili’s health is the over-politicisation of his health matters”, Sergeenko said.
Saakashvili, a citizen of Ukraine, was arrested in Tbilisi in October 2021 on his clandestine return to Georgia ahead of municipal elections.
Georgian Dream authorities have maintained the rights of the former president have been “fully protected”, including in his transfer for treatment to Gori Military Hospital in November and then to Vivamedi clinic on May 12, as Saakashvili went on hunger strike shortly after his arrest.
The former president is serving a six-year term for abuse of power in two separate cases stemming back to his time in office, while three other cases are pending.
Georgian justice minister Rati Bregadze on Tuesday said the government was offering the imprisoned former president Mikheil Saakashvili to bring “any doctor from any foreign clinic” and involve them in his treatment in Georgia.
Thea Tsulukiani, the vice prime minister and former minister of justice of Georgia, on Friday urged president Salome Zourabichvili to refrain from making “any calls” to domestic courts over the imprisoned former president Mikheil Saakashvili, saying it could be seen as interference in judicial developments around the former official.
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 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.
Giuli Alasania, the mother of the imprisoned former president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili, on Thursday said his son was not accusing the Georgian government of poisoning him in detention, and believed “traces” originating in a “foreign state” could be related to his medical condition.
Georgian Justice Minister Rati Bregadze on Monday said authorities were “doing their utmost” to ensure the health of the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili in detention.
The imprisoned former President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili is engaged in “self-harm”, refusing to follow doctors’ instructions, and eating “only what he wants and when he wants”, Justice Minister Rati Bregadze told Imedi TV on Tuesday.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Wednesday said the imprisoned former President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili had been offered by Justice Minister Rati Bregadze to invite “any doctor from any country” for his medical treatment, but the aim of Saakashvili’s lawyer was to release him from custody on the medical grounds and not to heal him in Georgia.
Anri Okhanashvili, the Head of the Georgian Parliament's Legal Affairs Committee from the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Thursday said the health and safety of imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili was “in the best interests” of the Government.
Georgia’s Vice Prime Minister Thea Tsulukiani on Tuesday said concerns voiced by Pawel Herczynski, the European Union Ambassador to Georgia, over the allegedly deteriorated health of the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili were “surprising and groundless”.
Georgia’s imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili has lost his appeal for release or postponement of the rest of his sentence on health grounds, with Tbilisi City Court on Monday denying the application in the case that has been surrounded by public debate.
Shalva Papuashvili, the Georgian Parliament Speaker, on Monday alleged a group of members of the European Parliament was taking “deliberate actions to harm Georgia’s image” in a bid to facilitate an “illegal release” of the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili from detention.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Monday called the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili the “only saboteur” as the latter warned of a Russian “subversive group” operating in the country to “spark unrest”.