Justice Minister rejects reports meeting with EU, Swedish ambassadors discussed ex-Pres. Saakashvili’s transfer abroad

Georgia’s Justice Minister Rati Bregadze on Monday rejected reports by several domestic media outlets that said his meeting with ambassadors of the European Union and Sweden earlier during the day had concerned the transfer of the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili abroad on health grounds.

In his social media post, Bregadze acknowledged the reporting freedom of the media, but noted the public “should be properly informed”.

The Minister said information “incompatible with truth” had been released on media channels around the meeting, and added the discussion “did not concern [Saakashvili’s] transfer abroad, and especially to a particular country”.

Bregadze’s comments follow the presentation by Pawel Herczyński, the EU Ambassador to Georgia, and Ulrik Tideström, the Swedish Ambassador to the country, of a formal position of their offices - the latter in the capacity of the Swedish EU Presidency - to the Justice Minister of the circumstances around Saakashvili.

Herczyński said the Minister had briefed them about the measures being taken by the Georgian Government to ensure Saakashvili's health and protection of his rights. Photo: EU in Georgia press office.

In his comments to the media, Herczyński once again expressed his concerns over the imprisoned former President’s “deteriorated health” in detention, and described the discussion with the Minister as “very open and frank”. 

The comments come following the Tbilisi City Court ruling earlier this month that denied Saakashvili release or postponement of the rest of his sentence on health grounds. 

The Court’s decision rejected claims of Saakashvili’s legal team on an alleged need for his “urgent treatment abroad due to multiple and serious health problems”. Georgian Government members and penitentiary authorities have been challenging the position by saying the former President has been engaged in “self-harm through disobeying doctors”, in a bid to facilitate his “illegal release” from detention.

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Saakashvili, who has Ukrainian citizenship and held a public post in the country, was arrested on return to Georgia in October 2021 and is serving a six-year term for abuse of power in a case he had been convicted on. He has been undergoing treatment in the Vivamedi civilian clinic in Tbilisi since May 2022, with three other cases against him pending.