Court demands to bring Saakashvili to hearing

A prison hospital is not able to organize proper security, and there are no guarantees for the safety of the third president of Georgia. The Tbilisi City Court has appointed a hearing on the Mikhail Saakashvili’s case for November 10, and a refusal to bring the defendant to court will testify to the fear of the authorities, his advocates claim.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that starting from October 1, Mikhail Saakashvili has been on the hunger strike in the prison in Rustavi. The former president of Georgia demands to release him. On November 8, the Georgian authorities decided to transfer the politician to a prison hospital. Mikhail Saakashvili refused to be transferred to a prison hospital and demanded to place him in a private clinic. On the night of November 9, the former president of Georgia announced that he had been tricked into a prison hospital and then beaten.

The court intends to summon Mikhail Saakashvili to the hearing on November 10, advocate Beka Basilaya reports. According to him, the special penitentiary service is obliged to obey the court. “If the special penitentiary service refuses under any pretext to send Mikhail Saakashvili to court, then that means the authorities are afraid. There are no legal obstacles to refusing the Mikhail Saakashvili’s participation in the court hearing. Moreover, the health state of Mikhail Saakashvili is deteriorating every day,” said the advocate on the air of the “Mtavari Arkhi” TV Channel as translated from the Georgian language by the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent.

The advocate also requests the authorities to immediately transfer Mikhail Saakashvili to another institution, since there are serious concerns about the safety of the third president of Georgia in the prison hospital. According to advocate Beka Basilaya, a post of one or two warders has been set up in front of the Mikhail Saakashvili’s ward, while everyone can move freely along the corridor and prisoners can organize an attack on the former president of Georgia.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on November 9, 2021 at 04:23 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.