Georgia: imprisoned ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili at risk of death, doctors say

The former Georgian president in court in Tbilisi on December 2, 2021. © AP - Irakli Gedenidze

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The former president of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, whose health was weakened by two hunger strikes in prison, risks dying if he does not receive appropriate care, doctors warned on Friday May 6.

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Aged 54, Mikheil Saakashvili first

for 

, then for 20 days, in order to denounce his imprisonment following a conviction for abuse of power which he denounces as political.

On Friday, a group of independent doctors who examined the former Georgian president in prison indicated that the latter suffered in particular from Wernicke's encephalopathy, a severe neurological disorder, anorexia and post-traumatic stress.

If the ex-president is not urgently transferred to a hospital where he will no longer be subject to "

", then he risks, according to doctors, developing neurological complications which can cause the dysfunction of several organs and lead to a "

".

The authorities dismissed these concerns

The Georgian authorities have so far dismissed the concerns expressed by doctors and the supporters of the pro-Western ex-president.

The leader of the ruling Georgian Dream party, Irakli Kobakhidze, said this week that Mikheil Saakashvili “ 

 ”.

“

,” he added.

Mikheil Saakashvili, who led Georgia from 2004 to 2013, was arrested and then imprisoned in October 2021 upon his return to this Caucasian country after an exile of several years.

His arrest exacerbated a political crisis in Georgia that erupted after 

, narrowly won by the ruling party and deemed by the opposition to be fraudulent.

(With

)

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• Georgia

• Mikheil Saakashvili