Polish professional tries to sneak sample taken from ex-Pres. Saakashvili via shoe - Special Penitentiary Service
In a statement the Service said the doctors had been given official permission to take samples, and noted that “the doctor's actions create additional concerns and contradicted both medical ethics and legal norms”. Photo via IPN
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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.
In a statement the Service said the doctors had been given official permission to take samples, and noted that “the doctor's actions create additional concerns and contradicted both medical ethics and legal norms”.
The Service stressed it had released the camera footage of the incident due to “high public interest” and called on everyone to refrain from “provocative and unlawful behaviour”.
In his comments to the media the Georgian Justice Minister Rati Bregadze asked the country’s foreign office to hear the position of the Polish Embassy in Georgia over the incident.
On the backdrop of controversy caused by claims by Saakashvili’s family and legal team on inadequate provision of medical services on November 29, last year, Justice Minister Rati Bregadze advised imprisoned Saakashvili, who disregarded the advice of the treating physicians, to request the participation of any foreign physician from any international facility.
The lawyer of Saakashvili requested the entry of Polish doctors on July 5, 2023 and on July 12, the doctors were given permission to see the imprisoned former President.
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.
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”.
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.
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.
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”.
The acting Polish Ambassador to Georgia was on Monday summoned to the country’s foreign office over last week’s incident involving a visiting Polish medical professional who allegedly attempted to conceal a sample taken from the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili and smuggle it out of the clinic the former official is receiving treatment at.
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.
Mamuka Mdinaradze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party in the Parliament, on Thursday claimed the latest disclosures on the activities of the United States-based law firm lobbying for the release of the imprisoned former President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili had “fully exposed” the “hostility” of the former official, the United National Movement opposition party and “their handlers” to “national interests” and Georgia’s European integration.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Thursday alleged the existence of an international campaign “orchestrated and funded” for the purpose of promoting and lobbying for interests of the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili, following the latest disclosure on the United States Department of Justice’s website of activities of a lobbying firm associated with the former official’s lawyers.
Rati Bregadze, the Georgian Justice Minister, on Monday said the latest report by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment had reflected the cooperation offered to the body by the Tbilisi clinic where the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili is undergoing treatment.
Rati Bregadze, the Minister of Justice of Georgia, on Tuesday told the Georgian Public Broadcaster the Ukrainian Government had not been in communication with their Georgian counterparts to request extradition of the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili.