Parliament official: opposition UNM trying to help imprisoned fmr. President Saakashvili escape sentence
Sarjveladze stressed the Government paid “adequate attention” to issues related to Saakashvili’s health, with the former President having access to "almost all medical services". Photo: Parliament of Georgia
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Mikheil Sarjveladze, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament's Committee on Human Rights, on Tuesday said the opposition United National Movement party was trying to help the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili avoid having to serve the rest of his sentence and "running a PR campaign" for the purpose.
In his remarks over the matter, Sarjveladze noted "all medical procedures" were available for Saakashvili in detention, countering claims by a part of the opposition about a serious deterioration of his health that allegedly required his transfer abroad for treatment.
“From the very first day Saakashvili went to prison, their goal has been not to ensure his health, [or] to solve humanitarian issues, but [...] to help Saakashvili avoid the well-deserved sentence - this is their political task”, the Parliament official said.
To achieve this goal, they use everything except the legal mechanism. They use everything, including the factor of deterioration of the health condition, to try to [help him] avoid punishment. Some say this openly. They resort to a PR campaign, hire organisations which, in exchange for a certain fee, are ready to release as widely as possible the falsified information about his health”, he continued.
Sarjveladze stressed the Government paid “adequate attention” to issues related to Saakashvili’s health, with the former President having access to "almost all medical services".
On this backdrop, I think that any insinuations, arguments regarding the need to transfer this man [Saakashvili] abroad, are baseless. It is logical to talk about transfer abroad only if there is a diagnosis or a [medical] need that is not available in Georgia”, Sarjveladze concluded.
Saakashvili was arrested in Tbilisi in October 2021 after his clandestine return to Georgia. He is currently serving a six-year term for two separate abuse of power cases while in office, with three other cases involving his term pending.
Saakashvili was transferred from the No. 12 Prison in the city of Rustavi to the civilian clinic Vivamedi in capital Tbilisi in May, following an offer for the transfer from the justice ministry, made after demands on the matter from the former president’s medical team and a part of political opposition.
His lawyers and family members have claimed the former president is in “urgent need” of treatment abroad, adding local professionals had been “unable” to make “accurate diagnosis and ensure relevant treatment” for months.
Responding to the claims, the country’s justice ministry has said “all necessary services” have been ensured for the former president in detention since his arrest and have stressed his potential transfer for treatment abroad could only be ruled by courts.
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.
Mikheil Sarjveladze, the chair of the Georgian parliament's committee on human rights, on Monday said “psychological intolerance” to detention environment was “not a reason” for granting individuals release from prison, pointing out the information made public on diagnoses and health condition of the imprisoned former president Mikheil Saakashvili was “not enough” to warrant his transfer abroad for treatment.
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.
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”.
A trial hearing in Tbilisi City Court on granting the release of imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili on medical grounds or postponing the rest of his sentence has been postponed from Friday to Wednesday.
Zurab Chkhaidze, the Clinical Director of Vivamedi clinic in Tbilisi, on Thursday rejected claims by the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili and his legal team that said he had suffered “several blackout episodes” over the past several days due to “very complicated” health condition.
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.
Thea Tsulukiani, the Vice Prime Minister of Georgia, on Monday criticised the Norwegian Conservative Party for awarding the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili with the Sjur Lindebrække Prize for Democracy and Human Rights.
Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Lasha Darsalia and Helene Sand Andresen, the Norwegian Ambassador to the country, on Tuesday met to discuss the presentation of a human rights award by the Conservative Party of Norway to Georgia’s imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili and the diplomat’s response to the event.