Ex-president of Georgia Mykhailo Saakashvili was healthy when he was arrested in Georgia, now he has 47 diagnoses, including three incurable diseases. The politician's lawyer Shalva Khachapuridze told about this in an interview with "Glavkom", which was published on July 7.
According to him, now Saakashvili, who twice went on hunger strike and lost a lot of weight in prison, is not on hunger strike.
"Mikhailov was given 47 different diagnoses, of which three are actually incurable. There is an order of the Minister of Health that, having three such diseases, a person is released from prison. Incurables are cachexia (wasting syndrome; a condition accompanied by large loss of body weight due to the disappearance of adipose tissue, muscle atrophy), dementia and gastroenterological disease. The most important thing is that when he was arrested and he was sent to the penitentiary, he was practically healthy," the lawyer said.
He recalled that the special medical commission convened by the Georgian ombudsman established that Saakashvili's stay in prison worsened his condition.
"The commission came to the conclusion: Mykhailo is seriously ill. Staying in prison complicates the course of his illnesses. And if he is left in prison, he will die. Some doctors say six months, some say eight. You know, it's difficult to predict exactly. The fact is that now the situation is only getting worse and there is no way out. The Georgian government says that Mykhailo is faking everything. Instead, the ombudsman's office denies the simulation," Khachapuridze added.
It will be recalled that Saakashvili served as the President of Georgia in 2004-2013. Shortly after he left the post of president, the politician left the country, lived and worked in Ukraine, and acquired Ukrainian citizenship. Several criminal cases have been opened against Saakashvili in Georgia, he is suspected of abuse of power and persecution of political opponents. Even before returning to Georgia, he was sentenced in absentia to six years in prison. Saakashvili himself calls criminal cases politically motivated.
On October 1, 2021, Saakashvili announced that he had returned to Georgia. On the same day, the politician was detained and arrested. The Prosecutor's Office of Georgia initiated another criminal case against him - on the fact of illegal crossing of the border.
During his stay in custody, Saakashvili went on hunger strike several times. In May 2022, he was transferred for examination to the civil clinic "Vivamed" in Tbilisi, where he is still staying.
The medical commission, which visited Saakashvili on April 2, 2023, announced the deterioration of his health. Compared to the previous visit, on February 19, the ex-president lost another 4 kg and weighed approximately 60 kg for his height of 1.95 m. In addition, doctors noted muscle atrophy, limitation of motor activity, a sharp drop in blood pressure from 120/90 to 78/ 40 with loss of balance and coordination when trying to stand up, as well as significant decline in mental function and depression. On May 3, Saakashvili reported that he fainted and narrowly avoided death.
On July 3, Saakashvili remotely joined the court session for the first time in several months. The politician had noticeably lost weight and had a sickly appearance.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, said: Saakashvili's condition raises fears that the country's authorities want to bring him to death.
In connection with the situation with Saakashvili, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs offered the Ambassador of Georgia to Ukraine Giorgi Zakarashvili to return to Tbilisi for consultations. The diplomat has already left Ukraine, but Georgia refuses consultations.
