Mikhail Saakashvili. (Photo: Sergey Subinski)
- Mikheil Saakashvili has been on a hunger strike for 50 days.
- Saakashvili initiated a hunger strike after being imprisoned after returning from exile in Ukraine on October 1.
- The doctor said Saakashvili’s condition is “life-threatening” and “he must be immediately transferred to a civilian clinic”.
The Georgian government said on Friday that former leader Mikheil Saakashvili, who had been on a hunger strike for 50 days, was transferred to a military hospital after doctors warned him of the risk of death in the current prison clinic.
The news was announced after Saakashvili fainted, and doctors urged the authorities to transfer him to a civilian clinic, saying his life was in danger.
He launched a hunger strike after being imprisoned after returning from exile in Ukraine on October 1, saying that his arrest was political.
The Georgian authorities initially rejected the medical advice, but attorney general Rati Bregadze said on Friday that they were open to the transfer of Saakashvili.
“Our proposal is to transfer him to the military hospital,” Bregaze said at a news conference.
When making recommendations to the opposition, he said that the authorities could transfer him to such a facility in the city of Gori, about 90 kilometers west of the capital Tbilisi.
“This is a place where his health and safety are most protected by the state,” Bregaze added.
Read also | Former exiled President Saakashvili returns to Georgia
He also accused the opposition of “using Saakashvili’s health to achieve its trivial political goals.”
On Thursday, Saakashvili fainted and was transferred to the intensive care unit of the prison hospital.
Dr. George Grigolia told AFP on Friday that his condition was “life-threatening” and that “he must be immediately transferred to a civilian clinic.”
Later on Thursday, he met Saakashvili after fainting.
He cited some neurological and cardiac diseases, “Without proper care, these diseases may become irreversible and fatal, which is impossible in the medical institution where he is currently receiving treatment.”
Grigolia is a member of the medical committee established by the Ombudsman Nino Lomjaria.
-‘Refusal of proper care’-
On Wednesday, the committee stated that Saakashvili’s “current situation is assessed as critical” and that he is at risk of fatal complications in the “near future”.
It added that the prison hospital where Saakashvili was treated could not meet his medical needs and called on him to be immediately transferred to a civilian clinic.
Saakashvili’s lawyer, Dito Sadzaglishvili, stated that the country’s prison services are “politically motivated, not out of medical considerations”.
Saza Glichvili said:
Despite repeated appeals by doctors, the government denied Saakashvili’s right to appropriate medical treatment.
US State Department spokesperson Ned Price urged Georgian authorities to “treat Mr. Saakashvili with fairness and dignity.”
Saakashvili’s arrest has deepened a political crisis that broke out after the opposition condemned it as fraud in a parliamentary poll last year.
It also triggered some of the largest anti-government protests in a decade.
Recently, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili claimed that Saakashvili “has the right to commit suicide,” which caused an uproar.
Do you know you can listen to the article? Subscribe to news 24 Access this exciting feature and more.
