Saakashvili’s lawyers to sue justice minister for release of footage on ex-pres’ conditions in clinic

A lawyer of convicted former president Mikheil Saakashvili will on Thursday sue the country’s justice minister Rati Bregadze for the recent release of footage reflecting his client’s conditions in the Vivamedi civilian clinic in Tbilisi. 

“I will appeal to the Special Investigation Service to open a criminal case against the minister. There was no consent on Saakashvili’s part over the release of the footage”, Khachapuridze said on Wednesday, shortly after the release of videos from the clinic, where Saakashvili has been receiving treatment since May, depicting his attitudes to medical personnel. 

The lawyer claimed the release of the footage was connected with the European Parliament resolution the same day, which called for Saakashvilli’s release on medical grounds and cited the founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party Bidzina Ivanishvili as an oligarch. 

“By the action the GD told the European Union if the bloc continued to support Saakashvili, they would derail the country to Russia”, the lawyer said.  

 

Khachapuridze also pointed to the “deliberate” actions of the Special Penitentiary Service on Wednesday, when they said they lacked equipment to ensure Saakashvili’s remote engagement in a trial hearing on granting his release on medical grounds or the postponement of his sentence. 

“The service did not secure a laptop for Saakashvili to get involved in the trial [which was postponed to December 22]”, Khachapuridze said. 

Bregadze said the footage confirmed “noone tortures” Saakashvili “as it is claimed” by his entourage. 

“Based on certain moral considerations, we have not made public too many other shots that may contain similar episodes. We acted with the utmost restraint so that the public has complete and objective information,” he said, and noted the body had been “fully transparent” in relation to the former official, with more than 1,500 people visiting him so far. 

Saakashvili, who currently holds Ukrainian citizenship, was arrested in Tbilisi in October 2021 and is now serving his six-year-term for abuse of power while in office.