What I have heard so far [from justice minister Rati Bregadze] was very superficial and unconvincing for me, Giuli Alasania, mother of currently imprisoned former president Mikheil Saakashvili told the media on Friday. 

The comment followed the recent claims by the minister that the domestic Levan Samkharauli Forensics Bureau had found a health report on Saakashvili earlier drafted by an Empathy centre “not reliable and infallible”. 

The health report released last year, with the engagement of local and foreign professionals, had pointed to more than 20 health issues and a potential risk of coma and death, and recommended an “urgent transfer” of the former official abroad for “proper treatment”. 

“When my son was arrested, he was healthy. Now he sits in a wheelchair and cannot move”, Alasania claimed. 

Saakashvili, who currently holds Ukrainian citizenship, was arrested in Tbilisi in October 2021 and is now serving his six-year-sentence for abuse of power while in office. 

A trial hearing on granting Saakashvili’s release or the postponement of the rest of his sentence, is being held in Tbilisi City Court now. 

The Georgian government representatives claim Saakashvili is engaged in “self-harm” to “escape justice”.