Matthew Miller, the spokesperson for the US State Department, said that they are closely monitoring the case of the imprisoned third president of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, and his health condition greatly concerns them.
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At a briefing held on July 24, a journalist asked Matthew Miller a question about the statement issued by five former US ambassadors to Georgia, in which they call on the Georgian government to provide Mikheil Saakashvili with life-saving treatment.
“I will just say we are monitoring Mr. Saakashvili’s case closely. We are very concerned about his health. As we’ve said publicly and privately to the Georgian Government many times, it is the government’s responsibility to provide the medical care he needs to ensure his human rights are respected. And we will continue to monitor this case very closely,” stated Miller.
Chairman of Georgian Dream, Georgia’s ruling party, Irakli Kobakhidze said that implications regarding Saakashvili’s health are incorrect and unethical.
“This is unbelievable. I don’t even know how to react to this. This man is a prisoner and he is not even in prison. He hangs out in utmost comfort in a private clinic. You have seen in the video footage how the medical personnel treat him, and how he treats the medical personnel in return. In light of all this, making some insinuations is simply wrong and unethical. The man is a prisoner, he belongs in prison and is not even there. To make insinuations towards us about his health, when he inflicted self-harm first with a declared hunger strike and then undeclared one, is simply wrong. Such statements should be made instead that discourage Saakashvili from self-harm,” said Kobakhidze, who was asked by journalists about the statement of the State Department.
Former US ambassadors to Georgia William Courtney, Ian Kelly, Richard Miles, John Taft, and Kenneth Yalowitz published a joint statement on July 10 and called on the government of Georgia to provide life-saving treatment to the emaciated ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili, who is in prison, on humanitarian grounds. According to the former ambassadors, Georgian leaders and officials responsible for the brutal treatment of Saakashvili could be subject to severe sanctions under the US law, the Magnitsky Act, which gives the president the power to impose economic and visa sanctions against any foreigner found guilty of human rights abuses or corruption. In addition, the statement emphasizes that the cooperation between the governments of Georgia and the US and the prospect of Georgia joining the EU and NATO may be compromised.
Mikheil Saakashvili, who has been sentenced to 6 years in prison, has been in the Vivamedi clinic, a contractor of the special penitentiary service, for 14 months.
