Georgian Ministry of Justice proposes to transfer Saakashvili to private clinic
Mikheil Saakashvili’s health in prison
Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, who is currently in custody, will be offered a transfer to the Vivamed clinic in order to avoid possible complications of his health condition. This was stated by Minister of Justice Rati Bregadze.
According to him, Mikheil Saakashvili was prescribed medicines, but Saakashvili takes them selectively, thus, by his own decision, he “actually refuses full-fledged treatment”.
“In addition, he only eats selectively, thereby endangering his own health.
As a responsible state, we always act in the interests of the health and life of any person. Therefore, as in the case of any other prisoner, in order to avoid possible complications, Mikheil Saakashvili will be asked if he wished to be taken to the Vivamed clinic, where he will be examined and, if necessary, given appropriate treatment”, Rati Bregadze said at a special briefing.
According to the conclusion of a council doctors organized by the People’s Defender of Georgia, the state of health of ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili has worsened. His family asks authorities to transfer Saakashvili for treatment abroad.
According to doctors, Saakashvili is suffering from a protein hunger. He consumes about 1/4 of the usual amount of calories per day, and his body is consuming itself.
US Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan urges the Georgian government to take seriously the Ombudsman’s recommendations regarding the health of Georgia’s third President Mikheil Saakashvili.
The third President of Georgia, wanted by the authorities, secretly returned to Georgia on October 1, 2021, and was arrested and transferred from the Rustavi prison to a prison on the outskirts of Tbilisi (in the Gldani region).
Immediately after his arrest, the former president went on a hunger strike in protest. Saakashvili considers himself a political prisoner and personal prisoner of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the unofficial ruler of Georgia, Bidzina Ivanishvili.
The former president went on a hunger strike for 50 days. For the past two weeks, he has refused to take medication. His condition worsened day by day. A group of doctors organized by the Public Defender of Georgia Nino Lomjaria assessed his condition as critical.
Georgian civil society, diplomats, ordinary citizens, actors, writers, and other public figures called on the government to transfer the ex-president to a multidisciplinary clinic. This request was submitted to the Government by the Public Defender and the State Inspector Service of Georgia. The US State Department made the same call. Finally, on November 19, the third president was transferred to the Gori military hospital.
In addition, on November 10, the European Court of Human Rights ruled on provisional measures asking Saakashvili to end his hunger strike and instructing the state to ensure the prisoner’s safety and proper treatment.
