After a two-month hearing, Tbilisi City Court Judge Giorgi Arevadze, rejected the motion of the lawyers to release imprisoned third president Mikheil Saakashvili or postpone the execution of the sentence due to his health condition.
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“The review of the petition is over. We held about 15 sessions and interrogated 24 witnesses. I want to report the resolution part of the decision by deliberation in the courtroom. The materials of the case, the motion request, and the opposing side's position are well and thoroughly known. The motion of Shalva Khachapuridze, lawyer defending the interests of the convict Mikheil Saakashvili, regarding the release of Mikheil Saakashvili from the sentence or postponement of the execution of the sentence due to his illness, should not be satisfied. The ruling can be appealed in the Criminal Chamber of the Tbilisi Court of Appeal. The session is over,” said Judge Arevadze.
According to Saakashvili's lawyer, Shalva Khachapuridze, Tbilisi City Court decision will be appealed to the European Court of Human Rights.
“Of course, we expected this decision. I could not even imagine that our court would make a different decision. The decision is political, it has nothing to do with law. Since the law is dead in Georgia, naturally we will turn to the European Court of Human Rights,” said Khachapuridze.
“Of course, the decision was made politically. This is happening by the direct order of Bidzina Ivanishvili and now the Georgians who are sitting in the glass palace and in Russia are rejoicing. We will never put up with this, we will fight till the end and the Georgian government will never wash away this shame”, said Giorgi Saakashvili, Mikheil Saakashvili's brother.
On December 1, the lawyers applied to the Tbilisi City Court with a motion to release Saakashvili from his sentence or postpone it. Their demand was 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. Tbilisi City Court started considering the case from December 9, 2022.
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.
Since May 2022, Mikheil Saakashvili has been in the Vivamedi Clinic, a contractor of the Special Penitentiary Service
