Georgian Justice Minister Rati Bregadze called on imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili, who has been undergoing treatment at the Vivamedi civilian clinic in Tbilisi, and “people who are sincerely concerned with his recovery” to follow doctors’ recommendations, instead of “manipulating” his health.
Bregadze criticised the ongoing “harmful” campaign of the “radical opposition” to “illegally” release Saakashvili from custody and postpone the rest of his sentence on health grounds, stressing it aimed to “damage the interests of Georgia and misled the local and international community”.
The public “is very well aware of” Saakashvili’s continuous self-harming actions, aiming to affect his health and by this postpone his sentence, Bregadze said and noted he “has not been fully complying with” the course of treatment and “has been disobeying the doctors’ recommendations”.
The state does everything for Saakashvili, but he does not receive treatment and it is his personal decision, as any person is directly responsible for his health, the minister stressed, adding Saakashvili had been offered to bring any doctor to Georgia with his personal funds and with the permission of the Special Penitentiary Service, but “there has not been submitted any statement yet for this”.
