Georgian Justice Minister Rati Bregadze said on July 18 that there is no possibility to release ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili from serving his sentence or grant him a reprieve at this stage.
“At this stage, within the framework of our competence, there is no possibility of either release from serving this person’s sentence, or a suspension of punishment,” he said in an interview. Channel One Georgian Public Broadcasting, answering the question whether it is possible to exchange Saakashvili for any criminal wanted by Georgia in Ukraine.
As Bregadze noted, the Georgian authorities will not release Saakashvili under the guarantees of Kyiv.
Earlier, on July 5, Irakli Kobakhidze, chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream-Democratic Georgia party, said that Tbilisi ruled out any consultations with Kiev on the release of Saakashvili.
On July 2, Saakashvili, while in the hospital, took part in the court session via video link, appearing very thin. To demonstrate his unhealthy appearance, he even pulled up his shirt for the camera, saying that he continues to lose weight.
In turn, on July 3, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky demanded that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs summon the Georgian ambassador and order him to leave the country within 48 hours in connection with the situation around Saakashvili. He also called on the Georgian authorities to transfer the policy to Ukraine to ensure proper treatment and care.
The Georgian Foreign Ministry said at the same time that Ukraine’s recommendation to the Georgian ambassador was an extreme form of aggravation of relations. Kobakhidze, chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream Democratic Georgia party, added that Zelensky’s demand to transfer Saakashvili to Kyiv is deplorable.
A hearing in the Tbilisi City Court was held on the case of the dispersal of a protest in November 2007. Saakashvili was also convicted in absentia for the murder of banker Sandro Girgvliani and the beating of deputy Valery Gelashvili, and in addition, he is a defendant in the case of the pogrom of the Imedi television company. At the meeting, he stated that he considers himself innocent of any of the criminal cases initiated against him.
The opinions of doctors on the topic of the state of the politician are rather contradictory. So, on June 17, the clinical director of the Vivamedi clinic, where the former leader has been staying since May 2022, Zurab Chkhaidze, said that the health of the convicted ex-president had improved. However, American doctors hired by the Saakashvili family allegedly discovered several dozen diseases in him, including heavy metal poisoning. Specialists from Georgia do not confirm this. They claim that Saakashvili’s weight loss is due to the fact that he refuses to eat well and take the necessary drugs. On July 15, Polish doctors found no signs of poisoning in Saakashvili’s tests.
The ex-president arrived in Georgia in October 2021, then was arrested and placed in a prison in the city of Rustavi.
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