Statement regarding the trial of Mikheil Saakashvili

We, the signatory organizations, wish to comment once again on the extremely serious health condition of the third president of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili.

As we have stated repeatedly, the extreme deterioration of Saakashvili’s condition has been recorded in the medical examination’s conclusions and by the Public Defender’s special council. According to the public defender, there are grounds for postponing the sentence and his treatment is possible only in a multi-specialty clinic. This was confirmed by the witnesses who testified in a trial, namely:

• According to the statement of the American toxicologist, David Smith, Saakashvili is being treated incorrectly and he needs detoxification with chelation therapy;
• James Kobe listed Saakashvili’s diagnoses and noted that in case of delay of the treatment, he would lose the ability to move;
• Tamar Abashidze, a neurologist at the “Vivamed” clinic, stated that Saakashvili’s neurological condition has deteriorated significantly in recent months.

The extreme deterioration of Mikheil Saakashvili’s health condition is obvious from medical reports and expert testimony. Further worsening of his health and the occurrence of a possibly fatal outcome will lead to the gravest violation of human rights, which, in turn, will cause irreparable damage to the country’s reputation.

In view of this, we call on the court to take into account the conclusions of specialists in the field and to make a decision in accordance with human rights standards as soon as possible.

We also call on the international community to use all the means at their disposal to prevent irreparable damage to human life and health and the political collapse of the Georgian state.

Signatories:

1. Open Society Georgia Foundation
2. Georgian Democracy Initiative
3. Governance Monitoring Center
4. Economic Policy Research Center
5. Media Development Foundation
6. Transparency International Georgia
7. Partnership for Human Rights
8. Georgian Court Watch
9. International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy
10. Prevention for progress
11. Tolerance and Diversity Institute
12. Rights Georgia
13. Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association
14. Democracy Research Institute
15. The Georgian Center for Psychosocial and Medical Rehabilitation of Torture Victims
16. Social Justice Center
17. Sapari
18. Human Rights Center
19. The Institute for Development of Freedom of Information
20. Prevention For Progress
21. Green Alternative