Polish doctors begin medical examination of imprisoned former Georgian president, Mikheil Saakashvili

Mateusz Morawiecki, the prime minister, has said that a team of Polish doctors has started a comprehensive medical examination of imprisoned former Georgian president, Mikheil Saakashvili.

Saakashvili, president of Georgia in 2004-2013 and governor of Ukraine’s Odessa region in 2015-16, is serving a six-year prison sentence for abuse of power as head of state. The former leader and his supporters see the punishment as politically motivated.

„We do not leave friends in need,” Morawiecki tweeted on Wednesday. „At my request, a team of Polish doctors from the Humanitarian and Medical Aid Team started a comprehensive medical examination of President Mikheil Saakashvili in Georgia.”

Saakashvili was imprisoned in October 2021 and subsequently went on several hunger strikes. At the end of 2021, he was taken to hospital. In the opinion of many Georgian and Western human rights defenders, the former president’s health condition is serious enough to be life-threatening. (PAP)

mk