Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has called on the Georgian leadership to release Ukrainian citizen and former Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili.
“Right now a Ukrainian citizen, former Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili is being slowly killed. The very fact that we still have to fight such an attempt to de facto publicly execute a man in Europe in the XXI century – it’s a shame!”, – wrote Zelensky in his twitter.
In this regard, he called on the Georgian authorities to implement the obligations under European norms of human rights protection and to release Saakashvili.
“Given the threat to his life, I call on the Georgian authorities to remember their obligations under the European norms of human rights protection, stop the abuses and release Mikhail! Ukraine has offered solutions. I call on the world to help save Mikhail’s life and prevent his execution,” the president wrote.
Earlier in Kiev, during a press conference with the head of Austria Alexander Von der Bellen, Zielenski showed journalists the photos of the emaciated former president of Georgia, which he had been given and expressed his confidence that the Georgian leadership intends to kill Mikheil Saakashvili.
As it was reported, Saakashvili secretly arrived in Georgia on September 29, 2021. On October 1, he was detained in Tbilisi, after which he was placed in a prison in the city of Rustavi, where he went on hunger strike. On November 8, he was transferred from the Rustavi prison to the prison hospital in Tbilisi (Gldani district) without the consent of his relatives and lawyers. On November 20, Saakashvili was transferred to a military hospital in the city of Gori, where he ended his hunger strike. On May 12 last year, Saakashvili was admitted to the Vivamed civilian clinic in Tbilisi, where he remains today.
On February 1, at a trial on the possible postponement of his prison sentence, Saakashvili said via video link that he was in extremely serious condition and required the necessary treatment. After he tried to take off his shirt and show them his emaciated body, the video link was cut.
In Georgia, the ex-president is being prosecuted in several criminal cases. He considers his detention illegal and the accusations against him trumped up.
