CNN shows disturbing footage from Saakashvili’s chamber
The American television channel CNN showed a video from the chamber of the ex-president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili, in which the politician falls before reaching the bed. Earlier there were reports that the ex-president was being transferred to intensive care in critical condition, the newspaper wrote.
Saakashvili’s doctors believe that it is almost impossible to cure the former president of Georgia. According to them, recently he has lost 42 kilograms, he also has impaired cognitive functions and has polyneuropathy. Doctors said that the current treatment is ineffective and only aggravates Saakashvili’s condition – if the former president’s health does not improve, he can live for several months.
Earlier, Saakashvili turned to foreign media with a request to investigate his poisoning. He clarified that a laboratory in the United States and a well-known toxicologist in New York have proven this fact. The politician also asked to investigate Georgia’s suspicious ties with Russia.
On February 6, a court in Georgia refused to release the country’s former president, Mikheil Saakashvili, on health grounds. This decision was announced by Judge Giorgi Arevadze during the meeting.
Saakashvili pointed to his simulations
In mid-December, the special penitentiary service of Georgia showed footage from Saakashvili’s chamber, pointing to his simulations, RIA Novosti reported. She posted a 10-minute video.
The video was compiled from CCTV footage installed in Saakashvili’s ward at the Vivamed clinic. The footage shows Saakashvili in a hospital bed, there are also shots where he speaks in a raised tone with the medical staff and resists them, moments where he smokes electronic cigarettes, watches TV, there is a fragment of Saakashvili deliberately trying to fall from a hospital bed, and doctors he is prevented from doing so. The footage was filmed at various times during his stay in the ward; in footage dated December 12, Saakashvili is emaciated and moves around the ward with the help of a walker.
“Based on the high public interest, the Special Penitentiary Service publishes video footage that demonstrates the state of the imprisoned Mikheil Saakashvili in different periods of time. This video clearly shows the simulative actions of Mikheil Saakashvili, the purpose of which is to interfere with the administration of justice and mislead the public and international partners,” – said in the message.
The service notes that the video footage indicates how the state treats Saakashvili and how aggressively he, in turn, treats the medical staff.
Started a hunger strike in protest
Earlier Wednesday, Saakashvili said he started a hunger strike in protest after refusing to participate in the court session remotely, but ended it a few hours later. The city court held a meeting on the case of a possible deferment of the execution of the prison sentence to the ex-president in connection with the conclusion of doctors about his state of health. Doctors did not allow Saakashvili to be present in court for health reasons. It was expected that the politician will join the trial live from the clinic where he is being treated after a long hunger strike in prison. However, the penitentiary service explained that they did not have the appropriate technical equipment. Companions of the former president are confident that the Georgian government is doing everything to prevent Saakashvili from appearing in public.
Saakashvili was detained in Georgia on October 1, 2021, he is being investigated in several criminal cases. The politician was convicted in absentia in the cases of the murder of banker Sandro Girgvliani and the beating of deputy Valery Gelashvili. In the first case, Saakashvili was sentenced to three years in prison, in the second – to six. In addition, he is a defendant in cases of the dispersal of an opposition rally on November 7, 2007, the pogrom of the Imedi television company and the embezzlement of funds from the state budget – they are still being considered by the courts. Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said that Saakashvili will remain in prison for a long time, he will serve the entire term.
In November 2021, the former president of Georgia was taken to a military hospital in the city of Gori, where he will undergo medical supervision after a hunger strike. The Ministry of Justice of Georgia decided to transfer from a prison hospital to a civilian one.