top of page

Freedom to Mikheil Saakashvili

Monthly Newsletter | May 2023

misha.jpeg

Mikheil Saakashvili in his hospital bed. Photo Credit: Zurab Kurtsikidze/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

American Georgians for Progress has launched this publication as part of its efforts to achieve the release from prison of Mr. Mikheil Saakashvili, former President of Georgia and his transfer abroad for medical treatment. Mr. Saakashvili urgently needs to be transferred to a hospital abroad where he could be provided with life-saving, complex neuro-psychological and physical treatment.

 

By sharing this newsletter with journalists, human rights activists, legislative authorities, business leaders, and government officials, you will join a growing chorus of international voices demanding an unconditional transfer for treatment abroad of Mr. Saakashvili.

An urgent action is needed to prevent Mr. Saakashvili’s likely demise. The time for action is now!

Latest Developments

 

  • Professor Donald Rayfield: They are killing Saakashvili

  • Francis Fukuyama criticizes the Georgian government over its mistreatment of Mr. Saakashvili

  • Georgian Justice Minister said that the European Court of Human Rights rejected the request to transfer Mr. Saakashvili to Warsaw for treatment

  • EU States Ambassadors meet the Minister of Justice to discuss Saakashvili's situation

  • Thomas Hacker, a Member of the German Bundestag was not allowed to visit Mr. Saakashvili at the hospital

  • Meta has suspended 80 Facebook accounts, 26 pages, 9 groups, and 2 Instagram accounts associated with the Georgian authorities for “coordinated inauthentic behavior”

  • Foreign Minister of Poland raises the situation of Mr. Saakashvili with his Georgian counterpart

  • Majority of Georgians support Mr. Saakashvili’s transfer abroad for medical treatment

  • Mr. Navalny calls for Mr. Saakashvili’s release from prison for medical treatment

kkkkk.jpeg

Mr. Saakashvili's mother Prof. Giuli Alasania and his son Nikoloz Saakashvili accept the Human Rights Promotion Award in Norway on 26 March 2023. Photo credit: Hans Kristian Thorbjørnsen

Political Persecution of Mr. Saakashvili

 

The steady deterioration of health of the former President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili has resulted in severe sarcopenia, and severe stage 4 cachexia, a complex syndrome associated with an underlying illness, causing ongoing muscle loss. A group of authoritative medical doctors convened by the Public Defender of Georgia assessed on 2 April 2023 that Mr. Saakashvili’s condition has further deteriorated and warned about possible grave complications. According to the doctors, Mr. Saakashvili has lost half of his weight while in prison, and if he continues to lose weight, “irreversible changes in the body will begin.” The Georgian authorities have refused to allow for his transfer abroad despite recommendations of the Public Defender of Georgia and medics triggering fears of a tragic outcome.

 

World leaders including President Zelenskyy of Ukraine and President Macron of France have called on the Georgian authorities to release Mr. Saakashvili. Prime Minister of Poland Morawiecki issued a proposal for Mr. Saakashvili to be treated in Poland. US Department of State urged the government of Georgia to “heed the Public Defender’s recommendations about appropriate treatment”.

 

Upon his return to Georgia after eight years in exile, Mr. Saakashvili was arrested on 1 October 2021. His treatment in various prison facilities has been sharply criticized by local and international human rights groups. Amnesty International assessed that Mr. Saakashvili’s treatment by authorities was “not just selective justice but apparent political revenge”. Reacting to the circumstances of Mr. Saakashvili’s forceful transfer to yet another prison facility Human Rights Watch stated that it could be interpreted as "a forced treatment” and noted that Mr. Saakashvili was “violently transferred to the prison hospital, allegedly threatened; denied dignity, privacy, and adequate healthcare”. Mr. Saakashvili’s multiple hunger strikes have led to grave complications affecting his physical as well as mental condition.

 

Mr. Saakashvili has been convicted in absentia for two alleged crimes. The charges against him are widely viewed as politically motivated, and the legal cases against him are regarded as a political retribution. In 2020, after the exhaustion of domestic remedies, both cases were referred to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, alleging violations of the right of Mr. Saakashvili to a fair trial, “no punishment without law”, and limitation on use of restrictions on rights.

International & Domestic Reaction

​

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy holds images of Mr. Saakashvili taken in prison. 1 February 2023. Photo credit: Sergei SUPINSKY / AFP

American Georgians for Progress strives to deepen United States - Georgia friendship and strategic partnership. AGP is devoted to supporting and implementing projects that advance democracy, media freedom, the rule of law, anti-corruption efforts, human rights, and fundamental freedoms. AGP is a 501(c) non-profit, charitable organization established in 2020.

bottom of page