In Georgia, ex-president Saakashvili, on hunger strike, is in critical condition

Published on : 11/18/2021 – 01:22

Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, incarcerated since his return from exile in early October and on hunger strike for several weeks, is in critical condition and is not receiving appropriate care, doctors said on Wednesday (November 17th).

“The patient’s current state of health is considered critical,” the group of doctors formed by the Georgian human rights defender said in a statement, adding that the prison hospital where the former president is being treated cannot respond to questions. his medical needs. Doctors demanded the immediate transfer of Mikheil Saakashvili to an intensive care unit in a better equipped civilian hospital.

Last week Mikheil Saakashvili, who has refused to eat for 48 days in protest against his October 1 incarceration, shortly after returning from exile from Ukraine, was transferred to a prison hospital due to the deterioration of his condition. health. But despite warnings from doctors who deemed his life in danger, the Georgian government has so far refused his transfer from the hospital-prison where he is in a civilian establishment.

He says he fears for his life

On Tuesday, Georgian Justice Minister Rati Bregadze said that the establishment where Mikheil Saakashvili is now “has all the necessary equipment to monitor the prisoner’s state of health.” “At no time was Saakashvili deprived of the medical assistance he needed,” he said.

The 53-year-old former leader said he was mistreated by his guards in prison and said he feared for his life. Human rights organizations have condemned the treatment of Mikheil Saakashvili, believing it to be politically motivated revenge.

Several opposition MPs also observed a hunger strike, demanding appropriate medical treatment for Mikheil Saakashvili, a demand also made by the United States and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

Political crisis

On November 11, Mikheïl Saakashvili announced that he would agree to end his hunger strike if he was transferred to a civilian “high-tech clinic”. On November 9, tens of thousands of people demonstrated in Tbilisi to demand the release of the former head of state and the organization of early elections.

The arrest of Mikheil Saakashvili exacerbated a political crisis following the legislative elections in 2020, narrowly won by the Georgian Dream Party currently in power, and which the opposition considered fraudulent.

Pro-Western president from 2004 to 2013 and now considered the leader of the opposition, Mikheil Saakashvili returned on October 1 to Georgia after an eight-year exile. Immediately arrested, he was jailed on a conviction for “abuse of power”, which he considers to be purely political. Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili caused a scandal by declaring that Mikheil 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.

With AFP