Luke Coffey from Heritage Foundation: Saakashvili deserves a right to defend himself

Director of the Foreign Policy Center at Heritage Foundation, Luke Coffey, says that former president of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, who was arrested in Tbilisi on October 1 and has been on hunger strike since then, deserves a right to defend himself against any charges in a fair and transparent trial. 

“I hate to comment on the domestic affairs of my beloved Georgia. Saakashvili’s treatment is disgraceful. As long as he remains detained, the authorities have an obligation to ensure his welfare. He deserves a right to defend himself against any charges in a fair and transparent trial,” Coffey tweeted. 

<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>I hate to comment on domestic affairs of my beloved Georgia. Saakashvili's treatment is disgraceful. As long as he remains detained, the authorities have an obligation to ensure his welfare. He deserves a right to defend himself against any charges in a fair &amp; transparent trial.</p>&mdash; Luke Coffey (@LukeDCoffey) <a href=”https://twitter.com/LukeDCoffey/status/1457815664882855938?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>November 8, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>

Saakashvili was transferred to a Gldani No 18 prison hospital from Rustavi No.12 prison late yesterday as the Justice Ministry says to prevent the deterioration of his health due to hunger strike.

The former president was demanding his transportation to a civil clinic with all equipment to provide proper medical care and with fewer safety risks. 

Saakashvili says that he was physically abused during the transfer, the allegations the Ministry of Justice has dismissed.

The former president, who is a citizen of Ukraine and currently chairs the Executive Committee of the Ukrainian National Reforms Council, was convicted in Georgia back in 2018 for abuse of power and was sentenced to six years in prison. 

He has also been charged with illegal takeover of property, illegal rally dispersal, embezzlement and illegally crossing the border. 

Saakashvili says that he is a political prisoner and was demanding his transportation to a civil clinic. 

However, the government said that Saakashvikli and his United National Movement party had plans to cause unrest if he was transferred to a civil clinic. 

The former president says that he returned after eight years in political exile to remove the Georgian Dream from power.