The Special Penitentiary Service of Georgia released a 10-minute video from the ward of the former president undergoing treatment Mikhail Saakashvilipointing to his “simulative actions”.
The video was edited from the records of surveillance cameras 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.
IA “Interfax”, 14.12.2022, “Special Penitentiary Service of Georgia accused Saakashvili of simulation”: The service believes that the video frames show the attitude of the state towards Saakashvili, as well as the attitude of Saakashvili himself towards medical personnel, in particular, insults on his part and aggressive behavior.
Some of the footage released by the service shows Saakashvili smoking (presumably electronic cigarettes) in his hospital room where he is undergoing treatment. Also, some frames show how the ex-president, during a conversation with the medical staff, possibly deliberately slides out of a hospital bed and falls to the floor, after which he is picked up and returned to his place.
The footage also shows moments when the ex-president does not allow people in white coats to perform certain procedures (presumably, the installation of an IV) and pushes them away from him. The date on the frames is 2022-10-04. On the same day, judging by the video, Saakashvili moves around the ward on his own, and later lies down on the bed again and begins to push away and drive away the man in the white coat. Other clips show how the ex-president snatches the bag from the woman and scatters the items in it around the ward. — Inset K.ru
“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,” – the message says.
The service notes that the video footage indicates how the state treats Saakashvili and how aggressively he, in turn, treats the medical staff.
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.
RIA Novosti, 12/15/2022, “Saakashvili ended the hunger strike a few hours after it was announced”: Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili ended his hunger strike a few hours after it was announced at the request of European parliamentarians, the corresponding letter of the politician was read to journalists by his lawyer Vakhtang Baramashvili.
“I received a message from the MEPs who categorically asked me to stop the hunger strike at this stage, so as not to give the relevant services a reason to claim that I am harming myself. At the same time, the MEPs promise to mobilize all diplomatic efforts to ensure the protection of my minimum rights. I feel bad I feel myself not because I didn’t take food on purpose, but because I am poisoned … “, the letter says. Saakashvili notes that he was the victim of mistreatment for many months, which is confirmed by the world’s best experts, including “Nobel Prize winners.” — Inset K.ru
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.
Kommersant.Ru, 11/08/2022, “The lawyer spoke about the identification of 36 diseases in Saakashvili”: The third president of Georgia, a citizen of Ukraine Mikheil Saakashvili, who is serving a six-year sentence, was diagnosed with 36 diseases, including tuberculosis and dementia (personality degradation), declared today, November 8, his lawyer Shalva Khachapuridze. He leads the group of lawyers for the ex-president who seeks the transfer of the client to a European or Ukrainian clinic with a suspended sentence.
Since May 2022, Saakashvili has been in a separate ward of the elite Vivamedi clinic in Tbilisi, where he is guarded around the clock by dozens of employees of the Penitentiary Department (DIN).
At Vivamedi, the patient was seen at various times by several American and European psychiatrists. Doctors are unanimous in their opinion that the deepest depression caused by “the impossibility of adapting to imprisonment” became the root cause of the deterioration in the health of the former head of state. Nevertheless, all the diagnoses indicated by the lawyers were made not by the examination of the IDIN or the Vivamedi clinic itself, but by the doctors invited by the Saakashvili family, as well as the Public Defender of Georgia. Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has repeatedly hinted that Saakashvili is only faking an illness, and that doctors who are ideologically close to him are engaged in profanation, while the ex-president is ill with only one thing: “unwillingness to serve his sentence for the crimes he has committed” – Box K.ru
MK.Ru, 12/14/2022, “Eats whatever he wants”: Saakashvili’s simulations did not affect the Georgian court”: Saakashvili’s defenders argue that the ex-president urgently needs to be released and hospitalized in a foreign clinic, because his health is rapidly deteriorating. As an argument, they cite the following facts: since October 2021, he has lost 42 kg. “With weight loss at such a rate, a critical body mass index will be reached in 2-3 months, after which “irreversible damage to organ systems will begin,” say doctors from the human rights center hired by associates and relatives of Saakashvili.
But we must take into account that a year ago Saakashvili weighed 115 kg, which means that now he weighs 73 kg. With his growth, of course, a little, but not critical. Also, according to lawyers, the ex-president already had several episodes of memory loss – May 5, May 25, October 4 and November 18. In addition, it is alleged that Saakashvili was poisoned with mercury and arsenic in the clinic. However, no one has seen the results of the examination confirming this. All this is only from the words of the defenders of the ex-president.
Doctors at the Empathy Center, who conducted research on Saakashvili, report that Saakashvili “has symptoms and diagnoses related to the neuropsychic, gastroenterological, and musculoskeletal systems. In addition, the ex-president has vision problems, anorexia, muscle atrophy, pain in the joints and bones.” There is no mention of poisoning in their study.
Doctors at the Vivamedi clinic, where the politician has been undergoing treatment since May, also confirm that he is weak. But they say that he intentionally harms his health, because he does not follow the recommendations of doctors, he eats what he wants and when he wants. And in general, for the most part, it simulates. — Inset K.ru
Saakashvili was detained in Georgia On October 1, 2021, he is on trial 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 dispersal of an opposition rally on November 7, 2007, about massacre of Imedi TV company and about waste of public funds 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.