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Georgian health minister currently sees no grounds for Saakashvili's hospitalization
TBILISI. Oct 21 (Interfax) – Georgia’s ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili, who has gone on hunger strike in the Rustavi prison, is fine and his condition does not require his transfer to a medical establishment, Georgian Health Minister Ekaterine Tikaradze said.
"Saakashvili’s state at this stage is stable, he is fine and does not have to be transferred to a clinic yet. The medical personnel of the Rustavi prison are constantly monitoring Saakashvili’s health," Tikaradze said on Thursday
Saakashvili, former Georgian president and currently a citizen of Ukraine, secretly arrived in Georgia from Ukraine on September 29. He was detained in Tbilisi on October 1 and is currently being held in a Rustavi prison.
Georgia earlier declared Saakashvili wanted as a person convicted in absentia in several criminal cases and treated as a suspect in some others. The Georgian authorities warned repeatedly that he would be detained immediately after he crossed the border. Saakashvili has described his detention as unlawful and the charges brought against him as falsified. He has declared a hunger strike.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said on Thursday that Saakashvili, who went on hunger strike on October 1, would be transferred to a prison hospital to be put under medical observation if his condition deteriorated.
Saakashvili’s lawyer Beka Basilaya, in turn, told journalists, when commenting on the justice minister’s statement, that Saakashvili’s transfer to the prison hospital under medical observation is "a provocation by the authorities."
"There are hundreds of inmates convicted of different crimes in the prison hospital. It poses a real threat to Mikheil Saakashvili’s security," the lawyer said.
"This is inappropriate behavior by the current authorities, who earlier said Mikheil Saakashvili would be transferred to any clinic of his choice if he was hospitalized," he said.