“I have given all my knowledge to Georgia... Now I gave and sacrificed my health to Georgia and the only thing I ask for is to be given adequate treatment,” said Mikheil Saakashvili, detained third president of Georgia, during a speech at Tbilisi City Court, where a trial was held on the issue of a postponement of his sentence or releasing from the sentence.
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According to Saakashvili, despite many months of treatment in the clinic, his health has deteriorated sharply.
During the remote participation in the process held on February 1, the former president also spoke in the Ukrainian language and addressed the Ukrainians: “I greet all fellow citizens. Now I am in Matrosov prison. I was tortured, I was poisoned... I am proud that everyone admires the Ukrainian people. I am proud that the president is Zelensky and I am grateful to his office. I am absolutely sure of our victory, but if I don’t survive till victory, which is so close, my heart must be buried in Kyiv. It belongs to Ukraine. Glory to Ukraine and death to our enemies.”
To show his physical condition, Mikheil Saakashvili lifted his shirt in front of the camera. After that, the process continued with the questioning of neurologist Tengiz Tsuladze, a member of the council created by the Public Defender Office of Georgia. The doctor said that Mikheil Saakashvili has the fourth level of cachexia, which is typical for cancer patients: “The fourth level of cachexia is a serious condition, in case of cancer it has a high mortality rate - median 4 months, i.e. maximum 8 months, although these studies are mainly conducted on tumors and there hasn’t been a case for such type of Studies being conducted on normal people. However, the cachexia itself is very severe and will probably affect his life expectancy drastically,” said Tsuladze.
Since May 2022, Mikheil Saakashvili has been in the Vivamedi Clinic, a contractor of the Special Penitentiary Service. According to the director of the clinic, Zurab Chkhaidze, on the morning of January 28, Mikheil Saakashvili weighed 69.7 kilograms. As Chkhaidze said, in the last few days, Saakashvili has reduced the amount of food he used to eat before, refused to take nutritional supplements and to get infusion therapy. The director of the clinic said, that if Mikheil Saakashvili does not follow the doctors’ recommendations, “it can lead to fatal consequences.”
On December 1, the lawyers applied to the Tbilisi City Court with a motion to release Saakashvili from his sentence or postpone it. Court hearings are still ongoing. Their demand is based on the conclusion of the Empathy center and the International Medical Expert Commission, according to which Saakashvili was practically healthy before his arrest, but now coma and death are expected. According to experts, Saakashvili needs to be immediately transferred to a third-class university multidisciplinary clinic in the USA and/or the European Union for diagnosis and treatment.
Mikheil Saakashvili, who is a citizen of Ukraine, was arrested on October 1, 2021, the day before the local self-government elections in Tbilisi. He was found guilty and has been sentenced to six years in prison for the cases of pardoning the employees of the state security service of Georgia convicted for the murder of Sandro Girgvliani and the beating of Member of Parliament Valeri Gelashvili. Saakashvili is also accused in the cases of the Imedi television company, raiding the protest action of November 7, illegally taking possession of Patarkatsishvili's property, and embezzling 9 024 367 GEL belonging to the Special State Protection Service of Georgia. The third president pleads not guilty and says that the processes are politically motivated.
