Freedom to Mikheil Saakashvili

Rally held in support of freeing Mikheil Saakashvili in Kutaisi, Georgia on16 September 2023. Photo Credit: UNM

Political Persecution of Mr. Saakashvili

The steady deterioration of Mr. Saakashvili’s health 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 medical doctors convened by the Public Defender of Georgia assessed 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”, which could leave him permanently disabled or even dead. Mr. Saakashvili’s condition has been exacerbated by his repeated hunger strikes in protest against his politically motivated incarceration. Georgian authorities have refused to allow for his transfer abroad despite recommendations of the Public Defender and medics triggering fears of a tragic outcome. 

President Zelenskyy of Ukraine, President Macron of France, President Sandu of Moldova, and the former Prime Minister of Belgium PM Verhofstadt, have called on the Georgian authorities to free Mr. Saakashvili. The European Parliament approved by an overwhelming vote a resolution calling for Mr. Saakashvili’s release. It warned that his case was a litmus test for the Georgian government’s commitment to European values. 27 EU member states diplomatically demarched to the Georgian government regarding Mr. Saakashvili’s deteriorating health. 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”. Ukraine expelled the Georgian ambassador and called on the Georgian authorities to put "an end to these abuses and [allow] Saakashvili's return to Ukraine”. 

Upon his return to Georgia after eight years in exile, Mr. Saakashvili was arrested on 1 October 2021. His mistreatment in various prison facilities has been sharply criticized by local and international human rights groups. Mr. Saakashvili has reportedly been tortured in custody. While the authorities deny the accusation in one instance they released a video  showing prison guards dragging Mr. Saakashvili by his limbs. 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 has been convicted in absentia for alleged abuse of power. Additionally, he is under trial for separate charges related to the dispersal of an anti-government rally in 2007 and illegal border crossing in 2021. The charges against him are widely viewed as a “political revenge”. In 2020, after the exhaustion of domestic remedies, the cases were referred to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, alleging violations of the right to a fair trial, “no punishment without law”, and “limitation on use of restrictions on rights” under Article 18 of the European Convention on Human Rights 

After six months of procrastination, the Georgian authorities finally allowed on 13 July 2023 the Polish doctors to see Mr. Saakashvili in the hospital. Prime Minister of Poland Morawiecki announced: "We do not leave friends in need. At my request, a team of Polish doctors [...] began a comprehensive medical examination of President Mikheil Saakashvili in Georgia." 

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