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Vice PM “once again” calls on Saakashvili to stop “self-harm” based on ECHR ruling

Tsulukiani noted the court had “several criteria” to assess the protection of rights, health and life of the prisoner, adding the Georgian Government met all the criteria in Saakashvili’s treatment in custody, which has now been confirmed by the ECHR. Photo via Government Administration

Agenda.ge, 13 May 2023 - 14:08, Tbilisi,Georgia

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.

The ECHR’s ruling, announced by Georgian Justice Minister Rati Bregadze on Friday, had neither accepted Saakashvili’s lawyers’ request for his transfer abroad nor instructed the Georgian authorities to move the former official to another treatment facility within the country.

Tsulukiani noted the court had “several criteria” to assess the protection of rights, health and life of the prisoner, adding the Georgian Government met all the criteria in Saakashvili’s treatment in custody, which has now been confirmed by the ECHR.

Saakashvili, who has Ukrainian citizenship and had held a public post in the country, was arrested on return to Georgia in October 2021 and has been serving a six-year term for abuse of power in the case he was convicted on. He has been undergoing treatment at the Vivamedi civilian clinic in Tbilisi since May 2022, with three other cases against him pending.

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