Former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili appeared on tv for the primary time in months Monday, wanting frail and emaciated, fueling issues over the detained politician’s therapy.
The 55-year-old – who earlier than the jail was a big man -– was virtually unrecognizable and seemed like a ghost of his former self.
The photos prompted war-torn Ukraine – of which Saakashvili is a citizen – to summon the Georgian ambassador, asking him to go to Tbilisi to assist “save” Saakashvili.
Leader of the Caucasus nation from 2004 to 2013, Saakashvili was jailed after getting back from exile on abuse of energy costs that rights teams denounce as politically motivated.
Doctors have stated Saakashvili dangers dying from situations he has developed whereas in custody, although Georgian authorities say he’s being given ample medical care.
Appearing by way of video hyperlink for a courtroom listening to on the “abuse of office” costs, Saakashvili, 55, lifted his shirt to point out his ribs protruding from his chest, a hole stomach, and pores and skin clinging tightly to his bones.
“A totally innocent man is being kept in custody,” he stated in protection carried dwell on a number of impartial TV channels. “I did not commit any crime.”
He is being held at a civilian hospital, the place he was transferred final 12 months after staging a 50-day starvation strike to protest his detention.
“Putting me in jail will not break me. I am going to be actively involved in Georgian politics,” he stated.
‘Save this man’
In Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated the Georgian ambassador to Kyiv could be requested to “leave Ukraine within 48 hours to hold consultations with his capital” on Saakashvili’s therapy.
Zelensky needs Saakashvili – whom he made a Ukrainian citizen in 2019 — to be transferred to a clinic in Ukraine or the West.
He referred to as on Georgia to “hand over” Saakashvili to Ukraine and “save this man”.
It was not instantly clear if the ambassador was being formally expelled.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba that the ambassador would arrive at his workplaces on Tuesday.
“Tomorrow morning, the Georgian ambassador will be at the Foreign Ministry, we will have a tough conversation with him, he will go to Georgia,” Kuleba stated on social media.
Kyiv, which has been battling a Russian invasion for 16 months, has accused Tbilisi of more and more cooperating with Moscow.
Zelensky accused Russia of “killing” Saakashvili “at the hands of the Georgian authorities.”
‘Torture’
Two teams of medical doctors -– one arrange by Georgia’s rights ombudsperson, one other comprising U.S.-based medics — have stated that Saakashvili’s well being continued to say no effectively after he ended his starvation strike.
The group of US-based medical doctors, who examined Saakashvili in particular person, stated his deteriorating well being was the results of “torture” in custody, saying he wanted a right away switch to a medical heart overseas.
The politician, who as soon as weighed over 100 kilograms (220 kilos), has misplaced round 60 kilograms whereas in jail, the physician teams say.
The European Union and the United States have urged Georgia to make sure that Saakashvili is supplied medical therapy and that his rights are protected.
Amnesty International has branded his therapy as “apparent political revenge”.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
