Zelensky phones Garibashvili, tells Saakashvili’s rights must be protected

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has phoned Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and told him that the rights of former president of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili,who is now a citizen of Ukraine, must be fully protected. 

 

“In a phone conversation with Garibashhvili I stressed that the rights of Ukrainian citizen Saakashvili must be fully guaranteed in accordance with international norms. Applied for admission of Mikheil Saakashvili’s mother, relatives, and Ukrainian doctors to him,” Zelensky tweeted. 

 

The Special Penitentiary Service of Georgia spread two videos of Saakashvili yesterday to ‘dismiss accusations’ that Saakashvili was abused by the prison personnel during his transfer to a prison hospital on Monday to prevent complications in his health. 

 

The videos show that Saakashvili did not wish to leave the emergency vehicle and he insulted the people in the car. 

 

The videos also show that Saakashvili was forcibly taken down from the vehicle and brought to the Gldani prison hospital. 

 

Saakashvili says  that the transfer happened against his will and he was physically and verbally abused by the prison personnel.

 

The government said that Saakashvili and his United National Movement party planned unrest at a private clinic if Saakashvili was brought there. 

 

Saakashvili is a citizen of Ukraine and current head of the Executive Committee of the Ukrainian National Reforms Council.  

 

He was arrested in Tbilisi on October 1 after eight years in political exile, stating that he returned to remove the Georgian Dream government from power.  

 

The third president was convicted in Georgia back in 2018 for abuse of power in absentia and was sentenced to six years in prison.