About 20 politicians and not the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is demanding the transfer of Georgia’s imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili to a modern clinic, Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili said on Tuesday, responding to letter by several PACE members. 

Papuashvili suggested that the issue of Saakashvili’s transfer was determined by Georgian law, and that the third President was receiving proper medical services in the Vivamedi clinic of Tbilisi. 

“Such politicians are not only in the Council of Europe, but also in the European Parliament. It has been said many times - there is Georgian legislation and the Ministry of Justice. The decision cannot be made on political grounds," Papuashvili said.

Saakashvili, who was arrested in Tbilisi back in October 2021 after eight years in political exile, claimed that he needed treatment abroad. After his arrest Saakashvili was on hunger strike for about two months.