Lawyer Shalva Khachapuridze told Mtavari TV channel that medical tests of former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, who is serving a six-year prison sentence, found arsenic in his body.
“We haven’t had a nail test yet, they’re coming today, but it turns out the phone work reveals something else. [отравляющее] The substance is arsenic,” he said.
The lawyer said today, November 28, that for the first time in a long time, Saakashvili is expected to attend a court session on the illegal border crossing case. The accused decided to come to the hearing today so that we would not cause the delay and postponement of the case.
Saakashvili will need a special chair to do this as his condition is serious and he cannot move independently.
heavy metal poisoning
Previously, the possibility of poisoning Saakashvili with heavy metals, especially mercury, was known. Lawyer Valery Gelbakhiani and mother of former president Giuli Alasania reported that the poisoning was proven by a medical report from the nonprofit Empathy. Although Empathy announced that the document was ready a week ago, the document has not yet been made public. At the same time, Georgian authorities urged to refrain from drawing premature conclusions about the possible poisoning of the former head of state.
Mariam Jishkariani, head of the NGO Empatiya, which conducted the investigation, said the organization’s experts had concluded on “possible drunkenness”.
“It is highly likely that Saakashvili was a victim of drunkenness, we await further confirmation of this. He was tortured, subjected to inhumane treatment and perhaps attempted poisoning… Three heavy metals were found in his hair,” he said.
He noted that in preparing the result, Saakashvili’s data on the examination of a hair sample made in the USA were taken into account. Bismuth, mercury and barium were found in it, according to Jishkariani, and the bismuth concentration exceeded the maximum allowable by 100%, mercury by 42%, and barium by about 20%.
“What other substances and chemical compounds are there – no one in Georgia can determine that anymore,” said the head of Empathy.
He requested that his patient be immediately sent to the Charite Clinic in Berlin for further examination and treatment, as “his life in the Georgian prison system is at risk”.
The former president’s lawyers and doctors have been insisting for months that he be transferred to a foreign clinic for treatment, which essentially means his release from prison. And then there is a possibility that Saakashvili will not return to Georgia to serve his sentence.
According to the lawyer, if the poisoning is eventually confirmed, human rights activists and their family members will have to appeal to diplomatic union with a request for a response.
By contrast, Irakli Kobakhidze, head of the ruling Georgian Dream party, had previously implied that Saakashvili had allegedly “mutilated himself”, referring to the version that he had ingested some type of metal-containing substance. Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili said that the decision to postpone Saakashvili’s detention should be made by the court according to the medical report.
The situation worsens
In mid-November, Saakashvili’s lawyers reported that Saakashvili’s condition worsened, including atrophy of the politician’s right arm. Earlier, lawyers had claimed that doctors suspected Saakashvili had more than 35 illnesses, including dementia and tuberculosis.
On November 21, he asked them not to speculate about his state of health on social networks and not to spread rumors of poisoning. He admitted that “his health has really deteriorated and has gotten worse over the past two months,” but doctors are trying to cure him.
The fact that Saakashvili was poisoned was announced by his mother on November 19th. “How did you get [вещества в организм] unknown, according to the result, they are, and this is drunkenness, which gives the reason for immediate eviction, ”the statement said.
Mikheil Saakashvili returned to Georgia on October 1, 2021 and was immediately arrested. He was accused of illegally crossing the border, embezzling budget funds and destroying the Imedi television company. In addition, he was convicted in absentia in two criminal cases: for involvement in the murder of bank employee Sandro Girgvliani in 2006 and for attacking former deputy Valery Gelashvili in 2005.
The politician called his arrest illegal and the charges against him were falsified. He went on hunger strike several times.
Saakashvili was the president of Georgia from 2004 to 2013. In 2015-2016, he took the citizenship of Ukraine and headed the administration of the Odessa region.