Tbilisi clinic Medical Director says Polish professionals “approved” treatment offered to ex-Pres. Saakashvili
Zurab Chkhaidze hailed his team’s communication with the visiting Polish counterparts on Wednesday as “very collegial, constructive and positive”. Photo: 1TV
Tweet 
Share
Zurab Chkhaidze, the Medical Director of Tbilisi’s Vivamedi clinic where the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili is receiving treatment, on Thursday said a visiting group of Polish medical professionals had “approved” the treatment offered by the staff of the venue to the former official.
Speaking with the media on the backdrop of controversy caused by claims by Saakashvili’s family and legal team on inadequate provision of medical services, Chkhaidze hailed his team’s communication with the visiting Polish counterparts on Wednesday as “very collegial, constructive and positive”.
- European court ruling “put an end" to "slanderous, anti-state” campaign by ex-Pres. Saakashvili - PM
He also contrasted the discussion to previous visits by both foreign and domestic medical professionals, during which he said the visiting counterparts had shown no interest in communication with the clinic staff.
I can say we are very satisfied by the meeting. We jointly discussed treatment tactics, medical checks and recommendations [made by the clinic’s personnel to Saakashvili]”, Chkhaidze said, adding the visiting group had made “same recommendations” to the former President that he said had been refused by the patient.
He also said the former official had put on weight after accepting some of the recommendations by the clinic’s professionals, “unlike the previous cases”.
We are happy he has put on weight. It would be more welcome if he follows the doctors’ recommendations even more, particularly in terms of the diet”, Chkhaidze said.
The Medical Director was also asked if Saakashvili’s gaining in weight could mean he would be moved back into prison detention, but said the development was “not a determinant” factor in the possibility.
Mateusz Morawiecki, the Polish Prime Minister, on Wednesday tweeted the professionals from his country had launched a “comprehensive medical examination” of Saakashvili, adding “we do not leave our friends in need”.
Saakashvili is currently serving a six-year-term for abuse of power while in office in two separate cases, while three other cases involving him are still pending. He was arrested in Tbilisi in October 2021 after eight years abroad, following his clandestine return to Georgia ahead of domestic municipal elections.
Georgia’s imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili is only taking a “quarter to a third” of his necessary daily calorie intake in contradiction to efforts of professionals at the civilian clinic where he is undergoing treatment, doctors of the clinic said on Wednesday.
Georgian Justice Minister Rati Bregadze on Sunday said the “wish” of the Georgian Government to ensure “good health” of the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili was “not reciprocated” in the actions of the former official.
Nino Nadiradze, the head of the Vivamedi clinic in Tbilisi where the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili is undergoing treatment, on Friday said the former official’s “non-adjustment” to life in detention was a major cause of his health problems.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Friday said the European Court of Human Rights' rejection of the country’s imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili’s request on his transfer abroad on health grounds had “put an end to a slanderous campaign” against his Government.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Friday called “absurd and shameful” the calls by some members of the European Parliament on the Georgian authorities to transfer the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili to a European Union member country for “necessary and appropriate medical care”.
Medical professional from a visiting group of Polish doctors assessing the treatment offered by the staff of the Tbilisi’s Vivamedi clinic where the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili is receiving treatment attempted to sneak a sample taken from the former official through his shoe, the Special Penitentiary Service said on Friday.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Saturday said the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights, which in May rejected an appeal by Mikheil Saakashvili, the imprisoned former President of Georgia and a citizen of Ukraine, for transfer abroad from Georgia for treatment, “confirmed that the country’s Government has been treating Saakashvili under the European standards”.
Rati Bregadze, the Georgian Justice Minister, on Sunday said a Polish professional who had been allowed to inspect the state of health of the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili in a Tbilisi clinic had “admitted” an attempted smuggling of the former official’s biological sample out of the facility on July 12.