Parliament Speaker says Saakashvili’s health “important” as former President has 5 more years to serve
Papuashvili also claimed that in contrast, the “so-called interest” of Saakashvili’s “friends” was in seeing his health “weakened as much as possible” and thus enable his transfer out of detention. Photo: Parliament of Georgia
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Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Thursday said ensuring the good health of the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili was in the interest of Georgian authorities and doctors as he had five more years of his sentence to serve.
Papuashvili also claimed that in contrast, the “so-called interest” of Saakashvili’s “friends” was in seeing his health “weakened as much as possible” and thus enable his transfer out of detention.
The Parliament official also pointed out Saakashvili was not following the treatment prescribed by the doctors at the Tbilisi civilian clinic where he is under care.
When a person does not obey doctors and does not follow their instructions, they may face health problems. Saakashvili and his friends - who, in the end, are his biggest enemies because they put him in this situation - do not want him to serve his sentence. For more than a year, he has been trying to find any reason to escape the punishment. There is punishment for a crime, and that is the simple truth”, the Speaker of the legislative body said.
“The interest of Georgian authorities and doctors is to make sure Saakashvili is healthy, as he has five more years of his sentence to serve, while the so-called interest of his friends is for [his health] to weaken as much as possible in order for them to somehow take him out of prison”, Papuashvili continued.
The former President has been receiving treatment at the Vivamedi clinic in Tbilisi since May 12, after he was moved from the Gori Military Hospital - where he was transferred in late November 2021 from the hospital of the Gldani No.18 prison. The latter, in turn, served as his detention location after his move from the Rustavi No.12 prison, the initial detention venue, in early November last year.
Saakashvili was arrested in Tbilisi in October 2021 on his clandestine return to Georgia ahead of municipal elections. He has been 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.
Malkhaz Urtkmelidze, the Head of the Medical Department of Georgia’s Special Penitentiary Service, on Wednesday said the conclusions of a medical study on the condition of the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili rejected the possibility of poisoning of the former official.
Georgia's Vice Prime Minister Thea Tsulukiani on Tuesday responded to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s call for Georgian authorities to allow the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili a transfer abroad for treatment by highlighting human rights violations during the latter’s time in Government.
Citizens opposition party MP Aleko Elisashvili on Monday criticised the appeal of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy for Georgian authorities to enable the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili's transfer abroad for medical treatment as "inappropriate".
Mikheil Sarjveladze, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament's Committee on Human Rights, on Monday said the goal of the hunger strike declared by several members of the opposition United National Movement party in support of allowing the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili a transfer abroad for medical treatment was for “facilitating his escape from responsibility”.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Sunday said the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili’s lawyer had been spreading “contradictory” information about the prisoner’s health condition.