Georgian Special Penitentiary Service denies alleged disciplinary measures against Saakashvili

TBILISI. Dec 8 (Interfax) – The Georgian Special Penitentiary Service has denied as lies the allegations of jailed former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili that his visitation had been limited and he was prohibited from watching television.

"As of this time, there is no disciplinary penalty imposed on Mikheil Saakashvili for any violation, so the alleged restrictions on visitation and the ban on watching television are lies," the Service said in a statement early on Wednesday morning.

The service confirmed however that an administrative proceeding was opened in Saakashvili’s regard on November 29, 2021, after "the convict [Saakashvili] damaged a cardio monitor in his ward."

"Currently, the convict freely uses the right to visitation by both his family and his physician," the service said, adding that it did not restrict any rights of the convict.

The service urged Saakashvili to abstain from false and unfounded allegations.

Saakashvili said earlier that he would stop receiving therapy at a military hospital in Gori, where he was transferred from a prison infirmary, in protest.

"A conclusion of the state inspector was published this morning. He fined the Justice Ministry for a fragrant violation of the president’s rights. About six hours after the statement was published, my cell [hospital ward] was entered without a warning by two officers of the 18th [correctional] institution, whom I identified as my torturers," Saakashvili said in a letter published on Facebook on Tuesday evening.

"They said that because I hit a blood pressure monitor in self-defense when they were trying to perform medical procedures against my will, the department decided to take disciplinary measures against me, which means restrictions on visitation and a ban on watching television," Saakashvili said.

He also said that his mother Giuli Alasania who, in his words, was allowed to visit him, was forced to wait in the street for almost four hours and send back to Tbilisi.

"My personal physician [Nikoloz Kipshidze] was also denied admission for one hour until the hospital administration intervened," he said.

This is how the authorities have responded to a decision of the Georgian State Inspector’s Service that fined the Justice Ministry and the Special Penitentiary Service on Tuesday for violating Saakashvili’s rights, the letter said.

"Therefore, I stop receiving any therapy and my protest will continue until they [the Justice Ministry and the Special Penitentiary Service] comply with the resolution of the State Inspector’s Service, cancel the so-called disciplinary measures, and resume a normal visitation process," Saakashvili said.

On Tuesday, the State Inspector’s Service said it had fined the Justice Ministry and the Special Penitentiary Service for disclosing Saakashvili’s personal data, including surveillance videos. The Service demanded that the Justice Ministry and the Special Penitentiary Service remove all video and audio files containing Saakashvili’s personal data from Facebook and their official websites.

Saakashvili, former Georgian president and currently a citizen of Ukraine, secretly arrived in Georgia on September 29 and was detained in Tbilisi on October 1 and put in jail in the city of Rustavi soon afterwards, where he declared a hunger strike. On November 8, he was transferred to the prison infirmary in Tbilisi’s Gldani district without the consent of his lawyers and family. On November 20, Saakashvili was transferred to a military hospital in Gori.

Saakashvili has been convicted in Georgia in absentia in several criminal cases and is being treated as a suspect in some others. He has described his detention as unlawful and the charges brought against him as falsified.