Georgia announces transfer of Saakashvili to intensive care unit

Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili is being transferred to the intensive care unit, said a friend of his family, a member of the opposition United National Movement party Georgy Chaladze. TASS and Sputnik Georgia.

“Saakashvili’s condition is alarming, at a critical level. In order to maintain vital signs, it is necessary that he be in the intensive care unit, ”he said.

At the same time, the general director of the Vivamed clinic, where the ex-president is being treated, Nino Nadiradze, said that Saakashvili is not being transferred anywhere yet, the decision will be announced later.

Saakashvili was detained in Georgia on October 1, 2021. He returned to the country shortly before the first round of the municipal elections. Initially, the politician was in the prison of the city of Rustavi, but on November 8 he was transferred to the Tbilisi prison hospital due to health concerns. In December, Saakashvili continued to serve his sentence in a prison in Rustavi.

On May 12, 2022, he was again transferred to a Tbilisi clinic for a medical examination. Doctors revealed a spinal injury in him, the ex-president of Georgia needed an operation. In November, Khachapuridze said that Georgian specialists and foreign experts were continuing their examination, that the politician was suspected of dementia and tuberculosis, as well as 34 other diseases.

19 November Saakashvili’s mother Giuli Alasania statedthat her son was found to have high levels of heavy metals, including mercury, in his body. It is not known how these substances got into the politician’s body, she noted. The same information was given by Saakashvili’s lawyers. According to Saakashvili’s mother, the conclusion of the doctors may become the basis for the release of the politician. On November 28, the politician’s lawyer Shalva Khachapuridze reported that Saakashvili’s body had discovered traces of arsenic. However, the ex-president of Georgia himself refuted reports of poisoning.

At an earlier court hearing on the issue of release or suspension of punishment for health reasons, experts warned that due to the loss of 45 kg of weight since the arrest, Saakashvili is on the verge of multiple organ failure and could die, transmitted Sputnik Georgia.