Rati Bregadze, the Georgian justice minister, on Monday said the currently imprisoned former president Mikheil Saakashvili would be transferred to prison when his health allowed that. 

“When appropriate medical conditions are met, he [Saakashvili] will be returned to prison”, Bregadze told the press following the cabinet meeting. 

The official noted he regularly received the information on Saakashvili’s health from the Vivamedi civilian clinic, where the former official has been receiving treatment since May 2022. 

Saakashvili, who currently holds Ukrainian citizenship, was arrested in Tbilisi in October 2021 on his clandestine return after eight years, ahead of Georgia’s municipal elections. 

Currently he is serving his six-year sentence for abuse of power while in office, while three other cases involving him are still pending.

The Georgian city court and the court of appeals have rejected the motion by his legal team to allow Saakashvili’s transfer abroad on health grounds earlier this year, while the European Court of Human Rights also rejected such a possibility in May.