Court Orders Penitentiary to Provide Proper Medical Treatment to Saakashvili

Tbilisi City Court Judge Nino Chakhnashvili today ordered the Director of Special Penitentiary Service to ensure the providing of appropriate medical services to jailed ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili.

The Judge turned however turned down a motion by Saakashvili’s lawyers for the Penitentiary Service to allow a group of doctors from a local nonprofit, Empathy Center, to pay systematic visits to the ex-President at the Rustavi Prison, assess his condition and treat him.

Article 191-1 (2) of the Criminal Procedure Code of Georgia allows judges to task the General Director of the Special Penitentiary Service with taking extreme measures necessary for providing security if the life or health of an accused or a convict is threatened in prison.

Saakashvili talks worsening health

The lawyers lodged the motion citing Saakashvili’s claims over his worsening condition. During an address to the Court, the ex-President said his refeeding process at the Gori Military Hospital following the 50-day-long hunger strike “completely failed.”

Saakashvili added that he lost about 12 kilograms over the past few days and currently weighs as much as he did during the “most critical period of the hunger strike.”

The former President further claimed that he is “practically unable” to consume food and has lost control of his feet, causing severe pain in his limbs. The ex-President also said he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Also during the hearing, ahead of the appeal, Saakashvili noted he felt unwell and was taken out of the courtroom to see a doctor. The ex-President said afterward that the doctor had to administer him a strong painkiller, for him to be able to return to the session.

The ex-President’s treatment in the penitentiary system has been a subject of controversy since his detention in October, after returning from self-imposed exile back to Georgia on the eve of elections.

Following the detention, Saakashvili immediately launched a hunger strike and as his health condition deteriorated, the authorities transferred him forcibly to the Gldani Prison Hospital. He had demanded to be taken to a civilian multi-profile clinic instead.

On November 19, Saakashvili accepted an offer by the Georgian Government to be transferred to the Gori Military Hospital and agreed to cease his hunger strike. Following a nearly month-and-a-half long treatment, the ex-President was discharged on December 30 and returned to the Rustavi prison.

On February 21 Saakashvili announced a “permanent” hunger strike only to call off the protest on March 10.

During the ex-President’s stay in the Rustavi prison following his discharge, his lawyers, family members, and political allies have repeatedly sounded alarms that the authorities are not allowing Saakashvili’s physician or other independent doctors to visit him. They have also accused the penitentiary of providing subpar treatment to the ex-President and called for his transfer abroad.

The former President is serving a six-year prison term after he was sentenced in absentia in 2018 on two separate abuse of power charges – three years for pardoning the former Interior Ministry officials, convicted in the high-profile murder case of Sandro Girgvliani, and six years for organizing an attack on opposition MP Valeri Gelashvili. 

He is also charged with misappropriation of public funds, exceeding official authority in the 2007 anti-government protests case, and illegal border crossing.

Saakashvili denies all the charges as politically motivated.

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