EGI Political Digest 32

Mikheil Saakashvili – the third president of Georgia lost consciousness temporarily after the meeting with his lawyers at Gldani Prison. An anesthesiologist-resuscitator, Guliko Kiliptari confirms that Saakashvili had high blood pressure, but later the parameters of him became normal again.

The public was informed about deterioration of Saakashvili’s health conditions at around 18:20, on the 18th of November and was provided by Beka Basilaia, the lawyer of the third President of Georgia. Basilaia stated that after leaving the meeting room Saakashvili lost consciousness and collapsed. After an hour the Penitentiary Service shared only a few details – that the situation of Saakashvili was stable and that the doctor would make a comment for the journalists. The doctor delivered an interview at around 19:40 and stated that she went to the prison simply because she wanted to visit Saakashvili and that she ended up there at the moment of Saakashvili’s collapse accidentally. 

Initially Georgian Dream claimed that there was a chance of chaos and destabilization by the supporters of Saakashvili and that’s the reason why the ruling party was refusing to take Saakashvili to a multifunctional civil hospital. The United National Movement announced on the contrary, that in case Saakashvili will be transferred to the multifunctional civil hospital, the manifestation and protests won’t take place nearby the hospital where Saakashvili will be taken. 

After Saakashvili’s health conditions deteriorated on the 18th of November and he lost consciousness, the following day he was offered to be transferred to Gori Military Hospital. The third-president of Georgia accepted the offer and stopped his 50-day hunger strike

The US Department of State also made a statement about Saakashvili’s situation on the 19th of November. “We are closely following the treatment of former President Mikheil Saakashvili since his arrest on October 1.  We commend the oversight work of the Georgian Public Defender in establishing an independent medical team to evaluate Mr. Saakashvili’s health and to review the state of medical facilities at the prison hospital.  We urge the Government of Georgia to treat Mr. Saakashvili fairly and with dignity, as well as to heed the Public Defender’s recommendations about appropriate treatment. We also strongly urge the Government of Georgia to ensure Mr. Saakashvili is able to attend all court hearings for his pending criminal cases, in line with international law. Mr. Saakashvili has a right to a fair trial, which includes the opportunity to attend court hearings in person should he request to do so” – announced the department. 

Irakli Kobakhidze: Report of the doctors is Fake

The Chairman of Georgian Dream, Irakli Kobakhidze stated that the report by the group of doctors formed by the Ombudsperson Nino Lomjaria with the aim of monitoring the health conditions of the ex-president Saakashvili is “Fake”. Kobakhidze stated that the ombudsperson and the doctors will be responsible for the “outcomes” of the potential scenario following Saakashvili’s transfer to multifunctional civil hospital (GD refuses to do it up untill this moment). Georgian Dream states that they expect that the supporters of Saakashvili will create chaos and destabilization and that’s why they don’t agree to take Saakashvili to Civil hospital.

“Let’s imagine that this “fake” was followed by transferring Saakashvili to a civil hospital. In this case let’s imagine that it is followed by the scenario which we are so concerned about [destabilization]. In this case this another “fake” will become the factor, which can be the reason for direct responsibility of both doctors and Ombudsman” – stated Kobakhidze in the interview with the media.

The ombudsperson Nino Lomjaria created the group consisting of six doctors in order to monitor the health conditions and service of Mikheil Saakashvili. The group consisting of doctors of multifunctional background was created on the 16th of November. The ombudsperson decided to form the group after the consilium created by the Ministry Of Justice was not permitted to visit Saakashvili after his  transfer from Rustavi Prison to Gldani Prison against his own will.

The criticism of Lomjaria (Ombudsperson) by Kobakhidze was followed by the announcement of Amnesty International. “Attacks against the Georgian Ombudsperson doing their human rights work are unacceptable. The Government should respect not undermine the work of human rights institutions and implement their recommendations to prioritize protection of human life and health.” – wrote Amnesty International.

Elene Khoshtaria ends the Hunger Strike after Saakashvili’s transfer to civil hospital

The leader of the party “Droa”, MP of Georgian legislative body – Elene Khoshtaria, who was on hunger strike already for 17 consecutive days with the demand of transferring Saakashvili to civil hospital, initially refused to receive medicine and healthcare any more after Saakashvili’s accident on the 18th of November, when he lost the consciousness and collapsed.

“I stop receiving medicines that prevent health parameters of mine from falling below critical line. Until the point Saakashvili is transferred to Civil Hospital, I reject any transfusions and medicines”.

But later, when the decision was made to transfer Saakashvili to Gori Military Hospital, Khoshtaria stopped the hunger strike.