Ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili transferred back to Rustavi prison

Former President Mikheil Saakashvili returned to Rustavi prison

The third president of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, was returned to Rustavi prison from Gori hospital, Saakashvili’s lawyer Shota Tutberidze announced.

“They came at night and just took the sick person away from the hospital. The source of information for us was the same as for you – the locals. It is still unknown where he will be transferred, but yes, he will probably be transferred to Rustavi prison”, said the lawyer.

David Sergeenko, a lawmaker and former health minister, said it was clear before the transfer that Saakashvili would return after stabilization. According to him, the doctors would not artificially aggravate the patient’s condition and they should be allowed to do their job.

“It will certainly be bad if [Mikheil Saakashvili] starts a hunger strike again”, says David Sergeenko.

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During the day, the ex-president’s lawyer Nika Gvaramia and other party members who visited Saakashvili said that Mikheil Saakashvili’s condition was critical.

Mikheil Saakashvili was also visited by the representative of the ombudsman in Gori hospital. Saba Brachveli said that on December 27, Saakashvili was given a new diagnosis. He did not specify which diagnosis was given to the ex-president, but noted that Nino Lomjaria’s office wanted its council members to assess the patient’s condition and make a conclusion about the patient’s treatment needs.

Saakashvili himself told Brachveli that he felt bad and asked for a meeting with more specialists, including a neurologist. However, Saakashvili’s doctors – who are monitoring him at the Gori hospital – say the dynamics of his treatment are positive.

It should be noted that a new doctor has not been appointed for Mikheil Saakashvili so far [Saakashvili’s doctor, Nikoloz Kipshidze, resigned due to deteriorating health of the ex-president], and decisions about his treatment are made jointly by doctors of different profiles. According to Brachveli, the Public Defender’s Council will try to visit Mikheil Saakashvili again in the coming days.

On December 27, it became known that Mikheil Saakashvili was going to be transferred from Gori Hospital to Gldani Medical Center, but the ex-president was eventually transferred to Rustavi Prison.

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Georgia’s third president, Mikheil Saakashvili, who was wanted by the authorities, returned to Georgia secretly and, on October 1, he was arrested and transferred to Gldani Prison.

Immediately after his arrest, the former president went on a hunger strike in protest. Saakashvili considers himself a political prisoner, more specifically a prisoner of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Georgia’s informal ruler Bidzina Ivanishvili.

The former president went on a hunger strike for 50 days. For the past two weeks he had not been taking medication. His condition was deteriorating day by day. A team of doctors set up by the Public Defender critically assessed his condition.

Georgia’s civil society, diplomats, ordinary citizens, actors, writers and other public figures have called on the government to transfer the ex-president to a multi-profile clinic. The Public Defender of Georgia and the Office of the State Inspector, addressed this request to the government. The statement was also released by the US State Department. Finally, the third president was transferred to Gori Medical Center on November 19.

In addition, on November 10, Strasbourg Court of Human Rights called on Mikheil Saakashvili to end his hunger strike and instructed the state to ensure the safety of the prisoner and his adequate treatment.