The Georgian authorities continue to frame the situation surrounding former President Mikheil Saakashvili as a matter of health and legality, emphasizing that clinicians should guide any decisions about his welfare. The comments came from the head of the Ministry of Justice, who urged the opposition to refrain from turning the case into a political battle and to heed the medical advice offered by the treating clinic. This stance underscores a broader expectation that medical professionals, not political actors, should determine the course of care for Saakashvili. [DEA News]
According to the official, the radical opposition should stop politicizing the issue tied to Mikheil Saakashvili. He argued that the actions taken reflect a punishment administered within a democratic, rule-of-law framework, and that politics has no role in that process. The physician team viewing the case has stressed that following medical guidance is essential for Saakashvili to recover. [DEA News]
In related developments, Pavel Gerchinsky, who previously served as EU Ambassador to Tbilisi, noted that the European Union had submitted a formal demarche to Georgia’s Ministry of Justice concerning the Saakashvili matter. The dialogue signals ongoing EU engagement with Georgia over the former president’s detention and health situation. [EU Delegation]
Saakashvili returned to his native city in October 2021 amid a chain of legal proceedings stemming from multiple criminal cases. He was subsequently detained and imprisoned. Saakashvili has publicly described his detention as politically charged and he initiated a hunger strike in response. By May 2022, his health had deteriorated to a degree that he was relocated from prison to a clinic in the capital for medical evaluation and care. This sequence of events has continued to provoke debate about the interplay between political processes and judicial outcomes in Georgia. [DEA News]