Saakashvili receiving appropriate medical aid in civilian clinic – Georgian justice minister

TBILISI. Aug 12 (Interfax) – Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili is continuing to undergo medical treatment in Vivamed, a civilian hospital in Tbilisi, where he receives all necessary care, Justice Minister Rati Bregadze said.

"Inmate Mikheil Saakashvili is in the internal medicine department and not in the intensive care unit, as opposition representatives say, and he is not starving," Bregadze told reporters on Friday.

Commenting on Saakashvili’s possible transfer for treatment abroad, Bregadze said that neither the Ministry of Justice nor the Special Penitentiary Service is empowered to address this issue.

"It is up to a court to decide on this matter – whether to defer the serving of the sentence or release Saakashvili from incarceration based on a medical report," he said.

Defense attorneys earlier told reporters that Saakashvili was in critical condition and fighting for his life. He needs treatment abroad, they said.

Saakashvili arrived in Georgia secretly on September 29, 2021, and was detained in Tbilisi on October 1. Shortly after, he found himself in a prison in the city of Rustavi, where he went on a hunger strike. On November 8, without the consent of his relatives or lawyers, Saakashvili was transferred from the Rustavi prison to the prison infirmary in Tbilisi’s Gldani neighborhood. On November 20, Saakashvili was transferred to a military hospital in Gori, where he ended his hunger strike. He was transferred to a civilian clinic in Tbilisi on May 12.

Several criminal cases have been opened against Saakashvili in Georgia. He has labeled his detention as unlawful and the charges brought against him as falsified.