Saakashvili: "I never said I suspect poisoning"

JAMnews

Tbilisi

Saakashvili rejects poisoning speculation

According to Mikheil Saakashvili in a Facebook post, he never told his lawyers that he suspected he was poisoned and such speculation is inappropriate.

BSaakashvili’s mother Giuli Alasania stated that mercury was found in Saakashvili’s blood. On the same day, Saakashvili’s lawyer Valery Gelbakhiani then spread information about the former president having been poisoned.

Minister of Justice Rati Bregadze also made a statement to the effect that theywill apply to the National Bureau of Expertise for a toxicology examination.

The Empathy Center, which conducts independent monitoring of Saakashvili’s health, will soon publish another report with the results of an examination conducted by foreign doctors.

Mikheil Saakashvili’s statement

“I want to state that I have never told any of my lawyers that I suspect poisoning. Speculation on this subject is inappropriate.

I want to thank the medical community for their support. I greatly appreciate their professional help. My health is deteriorating and it has worsened still more in the last two months. The doctors of [private clinic] Vivamed continue to take care of me. It is important to trust specialists and not overly politicize this issue.

Thanks again to everyone,” he writes.

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Lawyer’s explanation

Lawyer Valery Gelbakhiani, who earlier claimed that Saakashvili had been poisoned, said today that Saakashvili’s lawyers agreed not to comment on the theory of poisoning anymore.

“Experts directly indicate signs consistent with poisoning found in Saakashvili’s bloodwork. The nature of his illness points to this, otherwise there would be no reason for his current state of ill-health.

If the duration coincides with the length of stay at the Vivamed clinic, of course the clinic will be responsible for this,” Valery Gelbakhiani told TV-Pirveli on November 19.

But, given Saakashvili’s recent statement, it seems such speculation will cease.

Government spokesman statement

According to Justice Minister Rati Bregadze, the department encourages “any person” disseminating such information to first verify it and provide relevant evidence.

Bregadze says no one has submitted anything of the sort.

“So that the public does not have question marks and that the state does its best, tomorrow morning we will contact the Samkharauli National Bureau of Expertise and conduct a toxicological examination. The public must receive full and comprehensive information about Mikheil Saakashvili’s health,” he stated.

A significant deterioration in Saakashvili’s health was again discussed in October 2022. On October 6, Saakashvili was visited by the head of the State Security Service, Temur Janashia. After that, he told reporters that the former president is very unwell: “Mikhail Saakashvili is actually no longer a person, his temperature is 38, pressure is 170, he cannot eat and take medicine, he is in bed all the time.”

American expert Shaheen Lahan, after a visit, explained that all studies show an acute deficiency of all “vital indicators that a healthy person should have in conditions of normal health.”

Saakashvili’s foreign lawyer Massimo Dangelo also visited him in the clinic. According the latter, Saakashvili’s health has deteriorated significantly. As the lawyer explained, if Saakashvili’s vital signs do not begin to improve, it could cost him his life.

And according to an independent medical consultation initiated by the Ombudsman of Georgia, in April 2022, Saakashvili’s health was beginning to worsen. His family asked for him to be treated abroad.

US Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan urged the Georgian government to take the Public Defender’s recommendations on his health seriously.

Saakashvili has been in prison for more than a year after he secretly returned to Georgia on October 1, 2021.

He was in the 12th penal colony Rustavi. He considers himself a political prisoner and has gone on hunger strike twice in protest. The first hunger strike lasted 51 days.

Then his health deteriorated so much that he needed treatment. First, he was transferred to the Gldani prison hospital, then to the Gori military hospital, and finally to the Vivamed clinic where he is still being treated.

There was also a decision by the Strasbourg Court of Human Rights dated 10 November. The court called on Saakashvili to stop his hunger strike and instructed the state to ensure the prisoner’s safety and adequate treatment.

Saakashvili rejects poisoning speculation