Former Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili warned this Sunday that he is “close to death” after being poisoned and having gone from weighing 120 to weighing 56 kilograms. Georgian authorities deny that he was poisoned and attribute his deterioration to poor nutrition.
Saakashvili is admitted to a hospital where he was transferred from the prison where he is serving a sentence for abuse of power due to his worsening health.
Saakashvili himself recounted in an indirect contact with the British chain skynews through his lawyer that “I weighed 120 kilograms and now I weigh 64”. “If I go below 60, the doctors believe there will be multiple organ failure,” she explained in a handwritten response to questions from the British network.
“I am in bed all the time. My bones are disintegrating and I am in excruciating pain.”, he added in a message transmitted by his lawyer, Shalva Khachapuridze.
Khachapuridze indicated that Saakashvili’s condition worsens day by day. “It is a frightening sight. He looks like a prisoner from a concentration camp in Nazi Germany ”declared the lawyer to skynews.
The former president has taken the opportunity to address the tens of thousands of demonstrators who have taken to the streets of Georgia to protest against a law considered pro-Russian. “Be very attentive. Be prepared to mobilize quickly, on short notice, because the oligarchs’ regime is vindictive,” he warned.
Mikhail Saakashvili, who served as the president of Georgia from 2004 to 2013, is serving a six-year sentence for two cases of abuse of power in connection with the beating of Valeri Gelashvilian opposition politician, by special police forces in 2005.
Saakashvili was tried and sentenced in absentia in 2018. Convictions in absentia violate international fair trial standards. He was arrested upon his return to Georgia on October 1, 2021 and faces additional abuse of power charges. His supporters say the charges are politically motivated.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) and International Amnesty They have called for Saakashvili’s release on humanitarian and health grounds. He too EU Parliament He has requested his release so that he can be treated abroad.
Weeks ago, about a thousand supporters of Saakashvili demonstrated in front of the government headquartersin the center of Tbilisi, to demand his transfer to a clinic abroad.
The protesters carried flags of Georgia, the European Union and Ukraine, as well as banners with photos of the former president, who is currently undergoing medical treatment in custody at one of the main clinics in the Georgian capital.
“The protests will continue until we achieve the transfer of the former president abroad for humanitarian reasons,” he declared at the rally. Alexander Kupravaa member of the opposition United National Movement party, created by Saakashvili.
Georgy Baramidzea member of the same opposition party, noted that “the Georgian authorities are criminals who cynically murder Saakashvili.”
Georgian Minister of Justice Rati Bregadzefor his part, declared to the television network imedia that the authorities “do everything possible to take care of the health of Saakashvili, who is in a hospital under permanent medical observation.”
Last month the President of Ukraine, Volodimir Zelensky, joined international condemnation of Saakashvili’s situation, warning that “he is slowly being assassinated.” “At this moment, the Ukrainian citizen and former president of Georgia, Mikhail Saakashvili is slowly being assassinated. The very fact that we still have to fight against such an attempted de facto public execution of a person in Europe in the 21st century is a shame!” she wrote on his Twitter account.
He added: “Given the threat to his life, I urge the Georgia authorities to Remember your obligations under European standards for the protection of human rights, stop the abuse and release Mikhail. Ukraine offered solutions. I urge the world to help save Mikhail’s life and prevent his execution.”
(With information from Europa Press and EFE)
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Source-www.infobae.com