The former president of Georgia in critical condition in the prison hospital

2023-04-21 18:36:24, Kosova & Bota CNA

The former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili, who has been in prison in Tbilisi for more than a year, is in a critical state of health and according to the family, the situation is getting worse. Poland, Ukraine and other European countries are calling for his release. As Voice of America correspondent Myroslava Gongadze reports from Warsaw, supporters of the former president say that Russia is behind his imprisonment.

The former president of Georgia, Mikhail Saakashvili, has been in prison in his country for more than a year.

After returning from Ukraine in October 2021, he was arrested on charges of abuse of office, which he described as politically motivated.

While he was held in the prison cells, he went on a hunger strike. He himself and his supporters say that he was poisoned.

Currently, his health condition has worsened. His family and European leaders are calling for his release.

After serving two terms as President of Georgia, Mr. Saakashvili moved to Ukraine in 2015. Ukraine's president at the time, Petro Poroshenko, appointed him governor of the Odesa region and granted him Ukrainian citizenship.

During his appointment ceremony, Mr. Poroshenko, using the nickname of the former Georgian leader, emphasized Saakashvili's love for Ukraine.

"Myhaylo was ready to support Ukraine, because he loves Ukraine as much as I do ," said Petro Poroshenko, former President of Ukraine.

But the two friends and allies had bitter disagreements. Authorities later stripped Mr. Saakashvili of his Ukrainian citizenship and deported him to Poland, where he described himself as a champion of the fight against corruption.

"I am a Ukrainian and a Georgian politician. I will remain a Ukrainian politician and I will fight to the end against corruption and the corrupt oligarchy in Ukraine ," stressed Mikhael Saakashvili, former president of Georgia.

He later returned to Ukraine, crossing the Polish-Ukrainian border on foot, before deciding to return to Georgia, where he was imprisoned. His political allies accuse the current Georgian government of treating him inhumanely.

"Actually, Saakashvili is in prison because of Putin's order. "Putin is taking revenge on him because Saakashvili was the first to oppose him in 2008. 20 percent of Georgian territory is still occupied ," says Ana Tsitlidze, an opposition MP in Georgia.

Currently, Mr. Saakashvili is hospitalized in the prison hospital in Georgia, in critical condition. European leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, have called for his release.

"As you know, they poisoned him and now they are slowly killing him. These photos show the condition of the former Georgian president. I want the media to see the public torture that Ukrainian citizens are facing," said Mr. Zelenskyy .

The Georgian government has not responded to calls for Mr. Saakashvili's transfer.

"Poland offered help and suggested that the Georgian government transfer Misha from Georgia to Poland. But unfortunately, we have no answer from the Georgian government", says Mrs. Tsitlidze.

Mr. Saakashvily's mother, who is allowed to visit him several times a week in his prison cell, raises the alarm about his condition.

"He is suffering a lot. It is now difficult for him to speak. Everything is difficult, his condition is extremely weak. He is dissolving before my eyes. It's a terrible nightmare. I never imagined that my son, who did so much for the country, would now receive this kind of ingratitude from his country," says Giuli Alasania, the mother of former president Saakashvili.

Last month, the European Parliament called on the Georgian authorities to release Mr. Saakashvili and allow him to receive appropriate medical treatment abroad. They asked the current president of Georgia, Salome Zourabichvili, to pardon him./ voa