Ukraine has urged Georgia to stop "tormenting" the Caucus country's third president Mikheil Saakashvili, a Ukrainian citizen who is currently lying in intensive care and in deteriorating condition, independent Russian news outlet Meduza reported Thursday.
Saakashvili has been held in custody in Georgia since illegally crossing the border back in 2021 from Ukraine via verry and after he was sentenced to prison in absentia for abusing his power while in office. These charges include the alleged complicity in the murder of banker Sandro Girgvliani and organizing an attack on politician Valeriy Gelashvili.
He has recently been moved from prison to intensive care in a hospital as his condition deteriorates following a series of hunger strikes and reportedly suffering from 10 different medical conditions, according to Meduza.
Georgia is acting "in the worst traditions of the Soviet NKVD, subjecting Mikheil Saakashvili to psychological and physical pressure, denying him the urgently necessary medical help and deliberately creating an imminent threat to his life," Ukraine reportedly said in an official statement, adding that this entire situation is a sign of a crisis in Georgian democracy, Meduza reported.
Given the threat to his life, I urge authorities to recall their obligations under the European human rights protection norms, stop the abuse and set Mikheil free! offered solutions. I urge the world to help save Mikheil's life and prevent his execution. 2/2 pic.twitter.com/wZCLyf4xPY
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) February 1, 2023
"Micheil Saakashvili is being slowly killed," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tweeted Wednesday, sharing a picture showing the former Georgian president's emaciated skin under his shirt at a video call appearance during a trial.
"Ukraine offered solutions. I urge the world to help save his life and prevent his execution."
Saakashvili was later given Ukrainian citizenship in 2015 and even served as governor of the Odesa Oblast, though then-Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko later stripped him of his citizenship in 2017 – which Zelensky reinstated in 2019.
Is Georgia torturing its former president?
There may be some evidence that Georgia is torturing its former president.
According to medical reports seen by POLITICO in December, there are lacerations on Saakashvili's body and traces of mercury and arsenic in his hair and nails. He further spoke to his lawyer about being beaten by prison guards on numerous occasions. According to the BBC, Saakashvili also sent a hand-written note to French President Emmanuel Macron in 2022 reading "SOS. I am dying, I have very little time left."
"SOS. I am dying, I have very little time left."
Mikheil Saakashvili
As noted by Empathy, an NGO supporting Georgian torture victims, Saakashvili may also be suffering from heavy-metal poisoning, according to the BBC.
Later reports have also claimed that Saakashvili contracted COVID-19 in late January 2023.
By contrast, Georgian Justice Minister Rati Bregadze said that Saakashvili was self-harming and was only in his current condition due to refusing to eat, with other Georgian authorities saying this is all a ploy to get released from prison, the BBC reported.
Ukraine isn't alone in being concerned for Saakashvili, with world leaders having called for his release from Georgia, according to the BBC.
Who is Georgia's third president Mikheil Saakashvili?
Saakashvili rose to power in 2004, becoming president after the previous president resigned following the nonviolent Rose Revolution, which he helped lead.
He was reelected in 2008 but, as per Georgian law, was unable to run for a third term.
His time in office saw rapid economic growth, less bureaucratic spending and the literal firing of the entire Georgian police force to weed out corruption.
He was also noted for his pro-Western leanings, backing the Euromaidan movement in Ukraine and fighting against Russia in the Russo-Georgian War amid the crisis over the separatist regions Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
When he returned to Georgia, Saakashvili tried to spark mass protests in the capital of Tbilisi.
Currently, Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili vowed to never pardon Saakashvili.
At the time of writing, the Georgian government has consistently refused to release him as doing so would "destabilize the country."