The defense plans to appeal this decision to the ECtHR.
The Court of Appeal of Tbilisi refused to release former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili from prison on health grounds. RBC writes about this with reference to Saakashvili’s lawyer Shalva Khachapuridze.
The court explained this decision by the fact that the materials provided by the defense of the ex-president lacked legal grounds.
On February 6, the Tbilisi City Court denied Saakashvili’s release from arrest on health grounds. According to the representative of the special penitentiary service, which is responsible for detention, Niki Abramishvili, the medical report did not contain reliable information about the severity of Saakashvili’s illness. The politician’s lawyer intends to appeal the court’s decision to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
Mikhail Saakashvili is 55 years old. His presidential term ended in 2013. After that, he left Georgia, and two years later received the citizenship of Ukraine.
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Before the municipal elections in 2021, Saakashvili returned to Georgia, where he was detained and sent to a pre-trial detention center. Several criminal cases were opened against the ex-president. Among them are accusations of abuse of office, beating of an ex-deputy and embezzlement of public funds for personal needs.
In the pre-trial detention center, Saakashvili went on a hunger strike several times. The health of the former president began to deteriorate, and he was transferred to the hospital. At the end of January, he contracted the coronavirus. Then the deputy of the National Assembly Giorgi Chaladze said that Saakashvili was transferred to the intensive care unit and he is in critical condition.
