17:51, 4 February 2022

Court dismisses defenders’ request to let doctor visit Saakashvili

Mikhail Saakashvili in the court, February 4, 2019. Screenshot of live video coverage at Saakashvili's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SaakashviliMikheil/videos/814514236613998

Mikhail Saakashvili and his defence requested the judge to oblige the Penitentiary Service to let a private doctor visit the arrested politician. However, the court dismissed the request.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that the trial in the case against Mikhail Saakashvili, who is accused of illegally crossing the Georgian border, is taking place in the Tbilisi City Court. Meanwhile, Mikhail Saakashvili, who went on a long hunger strike after returning to the country, is not allowed to be visited by a private doctor, and that fact violates the rights of the arrested person, the politician’s advocate told the “Caucasian Knot” on January 19.

Saakashvili returned to Georgia in late September and was arrested on October 1, as he had been sentenced in absentia in Georgia to imprisonment within two criminal cases. After his arrest, he held a 50-day-long hunger strike, which he stopped after achieving a transfer from prison and the prison hospital to a military one.

Today, the politician’s advocates have filed a motion to let a doctor visit Mikhail Saakashvili. They have requested the court to oblige the Special Penitentiary Service to let the doctor visit the arrested politician, but Judge Nino Chakhnashvili did not grant the defenders’ request, the TASS reports today.

Before the court hearing, several dozen supporters of Mikhail Saakashvili and members of the “United National Movement” (UNM) Party, founded by him, gathered in front of the city court building. They demanded to release the politician, the “News-Georgia” reports.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 4, 2022 at 12:56 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Author: The Caucasian Knot