ECHR Not Ruling On Saakashvili's Transfer To Polish Clinic - Georgian Ministry

TBILISI (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 13th May, 2023) The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) dismissed a lawsuit filed by the lawyers of jailed Mikheil Saakashvili to transfer him to a clinic in Warsaw for treatment, Georgian Justice Minister Rati Bregadze said on Friday.

On April 11, Saakashvili's lawyers filed a lawsuit to Strasbourg after Georgian courts had refused to postpone the former president's imprisonment to allow him to be treated in a foreign clinic. Saakashvili's mother Giuli Alasania said later that the court had asked the Georgian Justice Ministry for additional documents on his health.

"Today, the decision of the Strasbourg court was published, according to which the convicted, Mikheil Saakashvili, was denied transfer to Warsaw in the case Saakashvili v. Georgia," Bregadze told a briefing, adding that the Georgian government did not receive instructions to adjust the ex-president's treatment.

Bregadze noted that Saakashvili would be returned to prison if the doctors of the clinic where he is undergoing treatment give an appropriate recommendation.

Later, Saakashvili's lawyer said that this was not the final decision of the ECHR in Saakashvili's case.

The ruling concerns only "immediate transfer of Saakashvili to Warsaw for treatment," the lawyer added.

The former president was put in jail in Georgia on October 1, 2021, shortly after returning from Ukraine. He is serving a six-year sentence for abuse of power, stealing public money and ordering a crackdown on a peaceful rally. Saakashvili's doctors and supporters say that his health has deteriorated dramatically since he went on several hunger strikes during his detention. In November 2022, Saakashvili's attorney, Shalva Khachapuridze, said that a medical examination had detected a heavy metal and arsenic, in addition to mercury, in the ex-president's body.

Saakashvili was the pro-Western president of Georgia for two consecutive terms from 2004 to 2013. He carried out massive reforms to root out the widespread corruption but also became known for his violent response to opposition protests. After the end of his last term, Saakashvili left the country for Ukraine, where he received citizenship, actively supported Euromaidan and served as the governor of the Odesa region.