Special Penitentiary Service will allow doctors from abroad to treat ex-Pres. Saakashvili
Any doctor, “invited directly” by Saakashvili’s family, who satisfies the preconditions defined by the Georgian legislation, can participate in the former President’s treatment, the Ministry added. Photo via Justice Ministry
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The Special Penitentiary Service will not go against the involvement of foreign doctors in the medical care of the convicted former President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili, the Justice Ministry said on Thursday.
In its statement, the Ministry explained that in November 2022 it had offered Saakashvili to bring doctors from abroad to participate in his treatment at the Vivamedi civilian clinic in Tbilisi [where he has been undergoing treatment since May 2022].
Any doctor, “invited directly” by Saakashvili’s family, who satisfies the preconditions defined by the Georgian legislation, can participate in the former President’s treatment, the Ministry added.
Saakashvili was arrested in Tbilisi in October 2021 after his clandestine return to Georgia. He has been serving a six-year term for two separate cases of abuse of power while in office, with three other cases involving his term pending.
His lawyers and family members have claimed the former President was in “urgent need” of treatment abroad, alleging local professionals had been “unable” to make “accurate diagnosis and ensure relevant treatment” for months.
In contrast to the claims, penitentiary authorities have said the former President has been engaged in “self-harm” and disobedience of doctors’ instructions, with the aim of facilitating an “escape from justice”.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Tuesday said comments at the European Parliament that mentioned the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili as a “political prisoner” demonstrated “corruption problems” at the body.
The Tbilisi Court of Appeals on Thursday upheld the verdict of the Tbilisi City Court that denied the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili's release or postponement of the rest of his sentence on health grounds.
Mikheil Sarjveladze, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament's Committee on Human Rights, on Wednesday called “comical” the proposal of Levan Khabeishvili, the newly elected Chair of the opposition United National Movement party, that made offers to authorities in exchange for releasing the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Sunday said the “shameful” resolution that called for the release of Georgia’s imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili on health grounds and was adopted by the European Parliament last month had “confirmed” the former official was “their agent”.
The civilian Vivamedi clinic in Georgia’s capital Tbilisi, where the country’s imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili has been receiving treatment [since May 2022], on Wednesday appealed to the Special Penitentiary Service to evaluate the “expediency” of Saakashvili’s “further stay” in hospital.
Georgian Justice Minister Rati Bregadze on Friday said the European Court of Human Rights had rejected the imprisoned former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili’s request to be transferred to Poland’s capital Warsaw for treatment.
Thea Tsulukiani, the Vice Prime Minister of Georgia, on Saturday, “once again” called on the imprisoned former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili to stop “self-harm” and restore “food intake”, based on the European Court of Human Rights ruling, which rejected his request to be transferred to Poland for treatment.