Georgian Justice Minister calls on ex-Pres. Saakashvili to follow doctors’ recommendations, stop manipulating
The public “is very well aware of” Saakashvili’s continuous self-harming actions, aiming to affect his health and by this postpone his sentence, Bregadze said and noted he “has not been fully complying with” the course of treatment and “has been disobeying the doctors’ recommendations”. Photo via Justice Ministry
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Georgian Justice Minister Rati Bregadze on Tuesday called on imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili and “people who are sincerely concerned with his recovery” to follow doctors’ recommendations, instead of “manipulating” his health.
At a press briefing, Bregadze criticised the ongoing “harmful” campaign of the “radical opposition” to “illegally” release Saakashvili from custody and postpone the rest of his sentence on health grounds, stressing it aimed to “damage the interests of Georgia and misled the local and international community”.
He emphasised the “unsuccessful attempts” made for the extradition of Saakashvili, citing the European Court of Human Rights’ rejection of the imprisoned President’s request to be transferred to Poland’s capital Warsaw for treatment, in May.
The public “is very well aware of” Saakashvili’s continuous self-harming actions, aiming to affect his health and by this postpone his sentence, Bregadze said and noted he “has not been fully complying with” the course of treatment and “has been disobeying the doctors’ recommendations”.
The state does everything for Saakashvili, but he does not receive treatment and it is his personal decision, as any person is directly responsible for his health, the Minister stressed, adding Saakashvili had been offered to bring any doctor to Georgia with his personal funds and with the permission of the Special Penitentiary Service, but “there has not been submitted any statement yet for this”.
Bregadze also called the claims by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, that Russia was “killing” Saakashvili “at the hands of the Georgian Government”, “completely unacceptable”.
Zelenskyy’s tweet came following a trial hearing in Tbilisi City Court on Monday over the case of the 2007 violent breakup of an opposition protest in the capital city - during Saakashvili’s time in office - which the former official joined via a video link and accused the Government of damaging his health.
The Georgian Minister stressed Georgia “unswervingly” protected human rights, including at “a very high level” in penitentiary institutions, emphasising “there has been no evidence” proving Zelenskyy’s claims.
He also said Saakashvili, who has been undergoing treatment at the Vivamedi civilian clinic in Tbilisi since May 2022, could be transferred back to the penitentiary facility in case of a “relevant decision” of the doctors involved in his treatment.
Saakashvili, who has Ukrainian citizenship and 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 a case he was convicted on. He has three other cases against him pending.