EU spox for external affairs: govt responsible for ex-pres. Saakashvili’s health

Peter Stano, the European Union spokesperson for external affairs, on Thursday said the bloc was “attentively following” the reports on the condition of currently imprisoned former president Mikheil Saakashvili, noting that ensuring his well-being was the responsibility of the current Georgian Dream authorities. 

“The EU follows attentively latest worrying reports about the deteriorating health of Mikheil Saakashvili. The Georgian authorities are responsible for his health and well-being and have a duty to take all necessary measures for him to receive appropriate medical care” he tweeted. 

Responding to the statement, the head of the parliament’s legal affairs committee from the ruling Georgian Dream party, Anri Okhanashvili said he “reserved the right to tell everyone” that the health and safety of the former president had been “fully ensured” in the country. 

A trial hearing on Saakashvili’s release on medical grounds, who was arrested in Tbilisi in October 2021, is scheduled on Friday, with Saakashvili announcing his presence as the trial “concerns my life and death”.