Justice Minister: ex-President Saakashvili has withdrawn request for ECHR to order transfer to foreign country for treatment

Rati Bregadze, the Minister of Justice of Georgia, on Monday said the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili had withdrawn his complaint from the European Court of Human Rights that asked the Court to order domestic authorities to transfer him to a foreign country for treatment.

Bregadze said his Office had last week received a notice from the ECHR and a letter from Saakashvili's lawyer, dated April 18, that said the former President’s health condition was “not life-threatening”.

The Minister noted a corresponding reply had been sent to the Court that said the adequate condition of the former official’s health had also been confirmed by the Court’s May 2023 ruling that rejected Saakashvili’s request to be transferred to Poland’s capital Warsaw for treatment.

The official added the Ministry had also asked the ECHR to inform the Georgian side that the case was being removed from the list of pending cases.

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 three other cases against him pending.