The analyzes carried out in a German laboratory did not confirm the poisoning of the condemned ex-president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili. This was stated by the head of the Georgian Ministry of Justice Rati Bregadze.
“It turned out that all the metals in the blood, which the side of the prisoner Saakashvili appealed to, are in the absolute norm. Accordingly, any poisoning is excluded,” said the head of the Georgian Ministry of Justice.
Bregadze reiterated Georgian authorities’ stance that Saakashvili deliberately does not eat, engages in self-harm and tries to “unlawfully free himself by all means”.
Meanwhile, Saakashvili’s lawyers claim that during a toxicological study of a hair sample from the ex-president in a US lab, mercury and other heavy metals, including barium and thallium, were found. were found to exceed the norm. This gave Saakashvili’s family reason to claim he was poisoned in prison.
Saakashvili’s party “United National Movement” said it did not trust the analyses, the results of which were announced by the Minister of Justice, and considered the statements of the Georgian authorities concerning Mikheil Saakashvili as “politically motivated”. .
At the same time, the opposition party Lelo noted that whether the ex-president was poisoned or not, the country’s authorities are responsible for the deterioration of his health.
It is noteworthy that according to the report of a group of doctors created by the Ombudsman of Georgia to monitor the situation, from February 19 to April 2, the health of the ex-president deteriorated.
According to the board’s latest finding, Saakashvili suffers from sarcopenia (loss of skeletal muscle mass and muscle function), severe grade 4 cachexia, critical drop in orthostatic pressure with impaired coordination, d neuropathy, “significant deterioration” of mental functions, and depression.
“Currently, moving a patient unattended is dangerous, because the risk of falls, injuries/fractures of the body is very high. In the case of the development of the latter, the resource of a cachexic organ for the healing of a wound or fracture is very small, which will lead to a cascading development of other critical complications with a high probability of death,” the advice published on April 4 said.
Earlier, the Georgian court rejected Saakashvili’s lawyers’ request for his release and/or postponement of the execution of his sentence due to a critical state of health.
After that, the lawyers filed a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) with a similar demand.
“We hope that the court in Strasbourg will consider this issue in a legal and humanitarian context and make an appropriate decision. Of course, it is impossible to predict what the content of this decision will be. This is another step and an attempt to save Mikheil Saakashvili’s life and health,” Saakashvili’s United National Movement party said.
Meanwhile, on April 12 in Warsaw, it was announced that Mikheil Saakashvili had received the Prometheus Prize, created in honor of the late Polish President Lech Kaczynski. The prize is awarded “for contribution to the struggle for freedom”.
“I would like to promise him that we will do everything in our power to provide him with treatment in Poland or in another country. We will continue to pressure the Georgian government to make this happen,” said MEP and former Polish foreign minister Anna Fotyga, who was part of the prize committee.
Two weeks ago, Mikheil Saakashvili received the award named after Norwegian politician, co-founder of the Conservative Party of Norway Sjur Lindebrekke. Saakashvili was known for his contribution to the promotion of human rights, political and economic freedoms and democratic institutions.
The recognition of Saakashvili’s merits in the world irritates the Georgian authorities. Thus, reacting to the news of the Norwegian prize, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili resorted to comparing the ex-president in office with the Norwegian Anders Breivik, convicted of acts of mass terrorism.
Calling for mercy and allowing Saakashvili out of prison ‘for the good of the country and a step towards the reconciliation of the nation’, imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny also addressed Georgian authorities . At the same time, Navalny writes that he does not know and has never met Saakashvili, and also does not know any member of his team, and that “nobody asked him to write this message”.
“Saakashvili is very ill, and all this talk about simulation is nonsense. Believe me, prison sucks health out of anyone and at high speed. Releasing him for suspended treatment, or doing something like that, which will allow the parties to comply with the law and save face, would be the right thing,” Navalny said in an April 13 post on his page. Twitter. .
At the same time, Navalny apologizes to the Georgians for his remarks made during the Russo-Georgian war of 2008. He notably proposed then to expel the Georgians from Russia, whom he then described as “rodents”.
“For this I apologized and I apologize again, I know that in this regard my opinion in Georgia does not carry much weight,” wrote the convicted Russian opponent.
Recall that Mikheil Saakashvili, who was wanted, arrived in Georgia illegally on September 29, 2021 and was arrested on October 1. Previously, the Tbilisi court issued a verdict in absentia to the ex-president for abuse of power. Saakashvili claims that all charges against him are politically motivated and that he is a “prisoner of Putin”.
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