Imprisoned Georgian ex-president Saakashvili is in intensive care, ally says

Mikheil Saakashvili, the jailed former president of Georgia, was transferred to an intensive care unit after his health deteriorated, his spokesman and political ally Giorgi Chaladze told Georgian television on Tuesday.

Saakashvili, who led the former Soviet republic as a pro-Western reformer from 2004 to 2013, was sentenced to six years in prison for abuse of power, a charge he and his supporters say is politically motivated.

His medical team said his health had worsened since he was imprisoned in October 2021 and went on repeated hunger strikes.

Saakashvili is being treated in a Tbilisi clinic, but his lawyers are seeking to have his sentence suspended so he can be transferred abroad.

The European Union called reports on Saakashvili’s health “alarming” and called on the government to provide him with medical treatment.

But critics, including those in the Georgian Dream party, say he is abusing his power and losing popular support. He was sentenced in absentia in 2018 and later jailed in October 2021 after returning to Georgia from Ukraine, where he had advised President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on reforms.

‘Show mercy’: Zelenskyy for Georgia

Zelenskyy last month also drew attention to his situation, calling on the Georgian authorities to have “mercy”.

“What happened to Mikheil today is cruelty,” the Ukrainian leader said. “It’s not going to be Georgia. It’s got to stop.”

Georgia’s main opposition party, the United National Movement, last month filed a court case asking the jailed former president to be released for medical examinations abroad amid concerns he may have been poisoned.

Saakashvili has suffered weight loss, musculoskeletal pain and muscle atrophy, “which may be the result of an undiagnosed infectious process and/or possible intoxication,” UNM said in its statement.

The party said toxicology tests showed he had high levels of barium, bismuth and mercury. The statement said the conclusion was based on the examination of Georgian and foreign experts conducted through the Empathy Center, a Georgian anti-torture NGO.

The US State Department called on Georgia to treat Saakashvili “fairly and with dignity” shortly after his arrest.