Irakli METREVELI
France Media Agency
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Thousands of supporters of Saakashvili, 53, took to the streets on Friday night in the capital Tbilisi to demand guarantees of adequate medical assistance for the former leader of the Caucasian country, currently considered the leader of the opposition.
Former Georgian President (2004-2013) stopped eating on 1is October to protest his imprisonment upon his return after years of exile. On Thursday, he passed out during a meeting with his lawyers.
Georgian authorities initially rejected doctors’ recommendations to hospitalize him in a civilian facility, but they changed tone on Friday.
“Our proposal is to transfer him to a military hospital,” Justice Minister Rati Bregadzé said at a press conference.
According to Mr. Bregadze, the former Georgian president could be hospitalized in a military hospital in the town of Gori, 90 kilometers west of the capital Tbilisi.
“It is a place where his health and his safety can be protected as much as possible by the state”, he assured, while accusing the opposition of “exploiting the health of Saakashvili for his ridiculous political ends” .
This statement came as Doctor Guiorgui Grigolia, who examined Mr. Saakachvili after his discomfort on Thursday, told AFP that his “life is threatened” and that he “must be transferred to a civilian clinic without delay. », Citing heart and neurological problems in his patient.
Risk of “irreversible” ailments
These ailments “could become irreversible or even be fatal without appropriate care, but these are impossible in the medical establishment where he is”, judged the practitioner.
Several thousand supporters of Mr. Saakashvili demonstrated in the evening in Tbilisi, waving Georgian flags and those of the European Union.
Nika Melia, president of the United National Movement (MNU) – the main opposition force in Georgia – assured that the mobilization would continue “until Saakashvili is transferred to an adequate clinic”.
Mr. Saakashvili was transferred on November 8 from his prison to a prison hospital, his health deteriorating due to his refusal to eat.
Earlier this week, a medical council formed by the Georgian human rights ombudsperson found the ex-president’s condition critical and requested his transfer to an intensive care unit in a better-equipped civilian establishment. .
But the Georgian authorities then remained deaf to this call.
On Thursday evening, a spokesperson for the US State Department, Ned Price, called on Tbilisi to follow the doctors’ recommendation and “treat Mr. Saakashvili fairly and with dignity.”
“The government is depriving Saakashvili of his right to adequate treatment,” his lawyer, Dito Sadzaglishvili, told AFP.
On November 11, the ex-leader announced that he would end his hunger strike in the event of transfer to a civilian “high-tech clinic”.
Mr Saakashvili’s arrest exacerbated a political crisis following the legislative elections in 2020, narrowly won by the ruling Georgian Dream Party, and which the opposition deemed fraudulent.
Pro-Western president from 2004 to 2013 and now considered the leader of the opposition, Saakashvili returned to Georgia on 1is October after an eight-year exile. Immediately arrested, he was imprisoned under a conviction for “abuse of power”, which he considers to be purely political.
Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili caused a scandal by declaring that Mr. Saakashvili “had the right to commit suicide” and that the government had been forced to arrest him because he had refused to give up politics.
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Irakli METREVELI
France Media Agency
–
Thousands of supporters of Saakashvili, 53, took to the streets on Friday night in the capital Tbilisi to demand guarantees of adequate medical assistance for the former leader of the Caucasian country, currently considered the leader of the opposition.
Former Georgian President (2004-2013) stopped eating on 1is October to protest his imprisonment upon his return after years of exile. On Thursday, he passed out during a meeting with his lawyers.
Georgian authorities initially rejected doctors’ recommendations to hospitalize him in a civilian facility, but they changed tone on Friday.
“Our proposal is to transfer him to a military hospital,” Justice Minister Rati Bregadzé said at a press conference.
According to Mr. Bregadze, the former Georgian president could be hospitalized in a military hospital in the town of Gori, 90 kilometers west of the capital Tbilisi.
“It is a place where his health and his safety can be protected as much as possible by the state”, he assured, while accusing the opposition of “exploiting the health of Saakashvili for his ridiculous political ends” .
This statement came as Doctor Guiorgui Grigolia, who examined Mr. Saakachvili after his discomfort on Thursday, told AFP that his “life is threatened” and that he “must be transferred to a civilian clinic without delay. », Citing heart and neurological problems in his patient.
Risk of “irreversible” ailments
These ailments “could become irreversible or even be fatal without appropriate care, but these are impossible in the medical establishment where he is”, judged the practitioner.
Several thousand supporters of Mr. Saakashvili demonstrated in the evening in Tbilisi, waving Georgian flags and those of the European Union.
Nika Melia, president of the United National Movement (MNU) – the main opposition force in Georgia – assured that the mobilization would continue “until Saakashvili is transferred to an adequate clinic”.
Mr. Saakashvili was transferred on November 8 from his prison to a prison hospital, his health deteriorating due to his refusal to eat.
Earlier this week, a medical council formed by the Georgian human rights ombudsperson found the ex-president’s condition critical and requested his transfer to an intensive care unit in a better-equipped civilian establishment. .
But the Georgian authorities then remained deaf to this call.
On Thursday evening, a spokesperson for the US State Department, Ned Price, called on Tbilisi to follow the doctors’ recommendation and “treat Mr. Saakashvili fairly and with dignity.”
“The government is depriving Saakashvili of his right to adequate treatment,” his lawyer, Dito Sadzaglishvili, told AFP.
On November 11, the ex-leader announced that he would end his hunger strike in the event of transfer to a civilian “high-tech clinic”.
Mr Saakashvili’s arrest exacerbated a political crisis following the legislative elections in 2020, narrowly won by the ruling Georgian Dream Party, and which the opposition deemed fraudulent.
Pro-Western president from 2004 to 2013 and now considered the leader of the opposition, Saakashvili returned to Georgia on 1is October after an eight-year exile. Immediately arrested, he was imprisoned under a conviction for “abuse of power”, which he considers to be purely political.
Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili caused a scandal by declaring that Mr. Saakashvili “had the right to commit suicide” and that the government had been forced to arrest him because he had refused to give up politics.
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