If trials on Saakashvili’s release lingered, UNM will do “everything possible, impossible” – MP

Ana Tsitlidze, an MP of the United National Movement opposition party, on Wednesday said if trials over the release of convicted former president Mikheil Saakashvili on medical grounds were lingered, the party would do “everything possible and impossible” to save the former official, as “every minute matters”. 

She said if a judge refused to deliver a verdict in a “timely fashion”, the party would take to the street. 

“Our strategy will be planned according to what will happen on December 9 [during the trial] and how the court will react to [Saakashvili’s condition]”, she said. 

Justice Minister Rati Bregadze on Tuesday accused the “radical wing” of the opposition of exerting pressure on a judge and “deliberate moves” to ensure the “illegal release” of Saakashvili. 

He also said the former president refused to follow the doctors’ instructions and was “self-harming”. 

Saakashvili, who was arrested in Tbilisi in October 2021, claims he is in “urgent need” of treatment abroad, with a report of a domestic Empathy centre pointing to more than 20 health issues and potential coma and death of the former top official.