Doctor rejects claims ex-Pres. Saakashvili lost consciousness in clinic
Doctor Zurab Chkhaidze on Thursday rejected claims by former President Mikheil Saakashvili’s legal team that the former official is in “critical condition”. Video grab
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Zurab Chkhaidze, the Clinical Director of Vivamedi clinic in Tbilisi, on Thursday rejected claims by the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili and his legal team that said he had suffered “several blackout episodes” over the past several days due to “very complicated” health condition.
Chkhaidze, who represents the clinic where the former President has been undergoing treatment since May 2022, said “none of the medical workers” in his facility, including those monitoring Saakashvili’s health “round-the-clock”, had confirmed the alleged incidents.
He said despite testing positive for Covid-19 earlier this week, the former official’s health remained “stable”, with “all hemodynamic and respiratory indicators in norm”.
Chkhaidze noted Saakashvili had suffered a “mild form” of the virus and was showing no temperature, but added “all necessary equipment” had been provided to his ward to deal with potential complications.
The claims [by the lawyers] that the former President is in a critical condition and in urgent need of intensive care are solely their views - with no doctors who are checking the patient’s health on a daily basis pointing to such necessity”, Chkhaidze said.
Saakashvili currently holds Ukrainian citizenship. He took a public post in the country before his arrest in Tbilisi in October 2021, just ahead of local municipal elections. Photo: 1TV.
He also said the lawyers had not provided the results of their Covid-19 testing so far, while all medical workers in contact with the imprisoned former official had tested negative for the virus.
A trial hearing on granting Saakashvili release or postponement of the rest of his sentence on medical grounds is scheduled on Friday, amid claims by Government officials that the former President had been engaged in “self-harm” and disobedience of doctors’ instructions, with the aim of facilitating an “escape from justice”.
Saakashvili was arrested in Tbilisi in October 2021 after his clandestine return to Georgia. He is serving a six-year term for two separate cases of abuse of power while in office, with three other cases involving his term pending.
His lawyers and family members have claimed the former President is in “urgent need” of treatment abroad, alleging local professionals had been “unable” to make “accurate diagnosis and ensure relevant treatment” for months.
Vice Prime Minister Thea Tsulukiani on Friday expressed her hope that imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili would stop “self-harming” and resume his normal diet, in response to recent comments by doctors that the former official “eats what he wants and when he wants”, refusing to follow their instructions.
Mikheil Sarjveladze, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament's Committee on Human Rights, on Tuesday said the opposition United National Movement party was trying to help the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili avoid having to serve the rest of his sentence and "running a PR campaign" for the purpose.
Giuli Alasania, the mother of the imprisoned former president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili, on Thursday said his son was not accusing the Georgian government of poisoning him in detention, and believed “traces” originating in a “foreign state” could be related to his medical condition.
Mikheil Saakashvili, the imprisoned former president of Georgia, on Monday dismissed claims by his lawyer Valeri Gelbakhiani over his alleged poisoning while in custody, stating he had “never” told any of his lawyers he had suspected poisoning had triggered his current “complicated health”.
Georgian Justice Minister Rati Bregadze on Thursday said the health reports of the Georgian-based rehabilitation centre Empathy on imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili’s condition were not “reliable and infallible”, based on the conclusions of the Levan Samkharauli National Forensics Bureau.
Georgian Justice Minister Rati Bregadze on Wednesday called on everyone to stop “politicising” the execution of justice and “supporting” the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili’s “self-harm”.
Georgian Justice Minister Rati Bregadze on Wednesday said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s statement alleging that the Georgian Government had been torturing the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili was “unfair and insulting”.
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.
Georgia’s imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili has lost his appeal for release or postponement of the rest of his sentence on health grounds, with Tbilisi City Court on Monday denying the application in the case that has been surrounded by public debate.
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.