WithThe UD in Tbilisi left Mikhail Saakashvili under arrest. Saakashvili was not present at the meeting. His defense promised to challenge the court’s decision in the ECHR
Mikhail Saakashvili
A court in Tbilisi has refused to release former President Mikhail Saakashvili from arrest for health reasons, Georgia Online reports.
His lawyers insisted on Saakashvili’s release. The representative of the Special Penitentiary service (responsible for detention) of Georgia, Nika Abramishvili, opposed their petition at the trial and stated that the medical report submitted to the court did not contain reliable information about the severity of the ex-president’s illness.
He himself, for health reasons, was not present at the court session and the announcement of the decision.
Saakashvili’s lawyer Shalva Khachapuridze said that the defense intends to appeal the court’s decision to the ECHR. “Naturally, we will appeal to the European Court of Human Rights,” Rustavi 2 quoted him as saying.
Saakashvili is 55 years old. In 2013, his presidential term ended, after which he left Georgia, and in 2015 he received Ukrainian citizenship and lived on its territory.
The ex-president returned to Georgia before the municipal elections in 2021, but he was detained and sent to jail. Several criminal cases have been initiated against him, including abuse of office, beating of an ex-deputy and embezzlement of public funds for personal needs.
In the pre-trial detention center, Saakashvili went on hunger strike several times. The ex-president’s condition began to deteriorate, he was transferred to the hospital. In early December 2022, medical experts from several countries diagnosed him with ten major diagnoses. At the end of January, Saakashvili became infected with coronavirus, and later, as his supporters reported, he was in intensive care.
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Concern about Saakashvili’s condition was expressed in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and called on the Georgian authorities to allow him to go abroad for treatment. Later, Kiev accused Tbilisi of using violence against the politician “in the best traditions of the NKVD”.
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