Saakashvili asks for medical assistance in courtroom, says he has difficulty walking, eating
Saakashvili interrupted court hearing amid poor health
A court hearing on illegal border-crossing by ex-President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili has been temporarily suspended after ex-president asked for medical assistance.
After a half-hour pause, Saakashvili returned to the hall and spoke about his state of health. According to Saakashvili, he experienced constant weakness, insomnia, and on Sunday, April 17, he completely lost control of his legs.
“I am now weighting as much as I did during the most critical period of the hunger strike. In recent days I have lost about 12 kg, I can hardly eat … On Sunday, I completely lost control of my legs, which causes slight pain in my arms and legs. This is practically what they saw in the republican hospital and they said that the situation was difficult, I did what the doctors told me …. This prison, of course, is not at all adapted for the treatment of anything, this is understandable, but I am grateful to the doctors … I could not continue to be present … if it were not for a strong painkiller […]”, said the ex-president.
According to him, he is suffering from a post-traumatic syndrome. He recalled that the husband of the doctor who gave him the correct diagnosis earlier was dismissed from his post in the Ministry of Health after media got hold of this diagnosis.
Saakashvili also discussed his United National Movement party in his speech and stated that this party is not a party of war, but of defense and survival of Georgia.
“The whole region and the world are in for big changes. Ukraine and the world are winning this war and are defeating the age-old enemy of Georgia. This is no rocket science. Now you understand what we saved Tbilisi and other regions of Georgia from in 2008. The fact is that a great danger was and is facing Georgia. And hundreds of offices of pro-Russian organizations were opened in Ukraine, but Zelensky closed them in time. They were also opened in Georgia. These offices were opened before the war, because as soon as they finished with Ukraine, they would invade us here. Today, Ukraine has stood in the way of this insidious plan”, Mikhail Saakashvili said.
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. During the last two weeks of his strike, Saakashvili refused to take medication. His condition worsened day by day. A group of doctors created 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 Service of the State Inspector 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 treatment.
