Polish professional “admitted” he attempted smuggling ex-Pres. Saakashvili’s sample - Justice Minister
Bregadze said the Polish professional himself admitted he had placed Saakashvili’s bio sample in his sock to sneak it out.Photo: Justice Ministry press office
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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.
Bregadze said the professional, who was visiting Saakashvili in clinic alongside his colleagues, had admitted in an interview the attempt of smuggling the sample by concealing it in his shoe.
Bregadze’s social media post came following the statement by Georgia’s Special Penitentiary Service, which on Friday released footage allegedly showing the attempt and said one of the two visiting Polish professionals had attempted to smuggle the sample out despite having had an official permission to take it.
In his post, the Minister accused unspecified domestic forces of “misleading the public” over the incident by “fake claims” that the discovered sample could have belonged to the medical professional rather than having been taken from Saakashvili.
The Polish professional himself admitted he had placed Saakashvili’s bio sample in his sock to sneak it out. We call on everyone to refrain from making provocative statements and deceiving the public. Let us wait for the official explanation”, Bregadze said.
In its statement last week, the Service said the doctor's actions had created “additional concerns and contradicted both medical ethics and legal norms”.
The Polish professionals visited Saakashvili at Tbilisi Vivamedi civilian clinic, where he has been receiving treatment since May 2022, on July 12.
Zurab Chkhaidze, the Medical Director of the clinic, on Thursday said the visiting group of Polish medical professionals had “approved” the treatment offered by the staff of the venue to the former official, hailing his team’s communication with them as “very collegial, constructive and positive”.
Saakashvili, who currently holds Ukrainian citizenship, is 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.
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.
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.
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 Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili on Monday said actions of a visiting Polish medical professional had caused “misunderstanding and concern” after an alleged attempt of smuggling of a medical sample of the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili out of a Tbilisi clinic last week.
Mikheil Sarjveladze, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament's Committee on Human Rights, on Wednesday claimed the legal team of the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili’s was working to “create impressions damaging the country's reputation” internationally, after 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.
The Polish foreign office on Wednesday said the alleged smuggling of a biological sample of the imprisoned former President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili by a Polish medical professional last week had been “unintentional” and “devoid of intentions inconsistent” with the agreement between the Georgian authorities and the group of visiting Polish doctors to facilitate the latter’s inspection of the former official’s health.
The Justice Training Centre of Georgia has become the Chair of the European Penitentiary Training Academies, a body uniting 36 member states of the Council of Europe to enhance cooperation, share knowledge and best practices among training institutions of the penitentiary system across the continent.