ECHR ruling confirms Georgian Gov’t treating imprisoned ex-Pres. Saakashvili in line with European standards - PM

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”.

In his comments to the media, Garibashvili noted Saakashvili and his family “have been actively discrediting” Georgia, with a “months-long disinformation campaign of lies” about the former President’s health, which “can be said to have covered the whole world”, but ended with the ECHR decision.

He added Saakashvili’s family had signed “a multi-million dollar contract” in the United States for this campaign, citing a disclosure of the US-based law firm Akerman in February, which showed it had received $917,177 from Saakashvili’s family to lobby for the former president’s release through the US Government. 

Garibashvili also commented on the appeals from 44 members of the European Parliament, who urged the Georgian authorities to “allow Saakashvili’s transfer to any EU country, where he will receive the necessary medical assistance”.

The Head of the Government stressed these MEPs had to “apologise” to Georgia and its citizens “for participating in the disinformation campaign”, allegedly Saakashvili was poisoned by the Government.

The PM also said a medical professional from a visiting group of Polish doctors assessing Saakashvili’s treatment - offered by the staff of the Tbilisi’s Vivamedi clinic, where the former official is receiving treatment - attempting to sneak a sample taken from the former official through his shoe on Wednesday was “a shameful and perturbing fact”, stressing the doctors had been given official permission to take samples.

The Special Penitentiary Service on Friday released the camera footage of the incident due to “high public interest”. 

As for the arrival of the Polish doctors, this issue is very politicised and there are attempts to mislead the public, more outside the country than inside it”, Garibashvili said and cited Justice Minister Rati Bregadze’s statement in November, in which the latter said that the Government was “offering Saakashvili to bring any doctor from any foreign clinic and involve them in his treatment in Georgia”.

He stressed that “time will show what was behind the idea of hiding the samples”, and pledged not to “allow anyone to confuse the public and mislead the international community about this issue”.

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.