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.
Darchiashvili’s comment came after Georgia’s Special Penitentiary Service on Friday said one of the two Polish professionals who were visiting Saakashvili to inspect treatment offered to him at the clinic had attempted to smuggle the biological sample out of the facility despite having received an official permission to take it. The body also released footage allegedly showing the incident.
The Minister said the incident had “brought the entire process into disrepute” in his meeting with the acting Polish Ambassador to Georgia Mariusz Pietrzak, with the foreign office noting the Government had explained to the diplomat its interest of providing “complete information” to the public about Saakashvili's health condition.
Darchiashvili also stressed his Government had “repeatedly” expressed its readiness to admit foreign doctors to the clinic following the rejection by the European Court of Human Rights in May of Saakashvili’s appeal to be transferred to Poland for continuation of his treatment.
At the meeting, the Georgian side emphasised that the behaviour of one of the professionals included in the Polish medical mission causes misunderstanding, concern and also brings the entire process into disrepute”, the Ministry said.
“[Pietrzak] was asked to state his stance on the incident. At the meeting, the Polish diplomat noted that he was not informed about what had caused the mentioned behaviour of the Polish [medical] professional”, the body added.
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.