Lawyer claims arsenic found in samples of ex-pres. Saakashvili

Shalva Khachapuridze, a lawyer of imprisoned former president Mikheil Saakashvili on Monday said that arsenic had been found in samples of the former top official. 

He said that final results of the toxicological examination were expected from the United States later today.  

“The analysis of the nail has not arrived yet, it will arrive today, but after a telephone conversation, we were told that arsenic had been found”, Khachapuridze said. 

He noted that Saakashvili had planned to attend today’s trial despite this information, which concerns the case of illegal crossing the border from Ukraine to Georgia in September 2021. 

The lawyer noted that the former president would appear in the court in a wheelchair due to his “complicated health”. 

Saakashvili was arrested in Tbilisi last year after eight years in political exile. 

He claims he needs transportation abroad for proper treatment after a 49-day hunger strike and subsequent  health issues. 

However, his lawyers and an NGO Empathy ensuring aid to the third president, have also pointed to alleged poisoning.