Ukraine’s foreign ministry summons Georgian ambassador over Saakashvili’s health

Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has summoned the Ambassador of Georgia to Ukraine, George Zakarashvili, to express its protest in connection with the significant deterioration of the health of Ukrainian citizen Mikheil Saakashvili, the ministry reported on July 4.

Zakarashvili was told that the treatment of Saakashvili, who is currently imprisoned in Georgia, is absolutely unacceptable and that the Georgian authorities must stop their abuse of the prisoner.

The foreign ministry recommended that Zakarashvili go to Tbilisi for consultations to resolve the crisis. It also confirmed its readiness to discuss the urgent transfer of Saakashvili to Ukraine for medical care.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on July 3 that Russia was killing Saakashvili, using the Georgian authorities as their proxy. He also instructed the foreign ministry to summon the Georgian ambassador and express his protest.

Read also: Georgia’s Saakashvili says he’s dying in jail

In turn, commenting on Zelenskyy’s decision, the head of the Georgian Dream party, Irakli Kobakhidze, said the initiative was “offensive.”

Kobakhidze said that he does not want “to delve into this topic” as “this case concerns the president of a country at war.”

Tbilisi wants to “remain in friendship” with the Ukrainian authorities, “even unilaterally,” the politician said.

“In general, this position of the Ukrainian authorities is offensive and Saakashvili’s move to Georgia was orchestrated by specific top Ukrainian officials,” Kobakhidze said.

“It was insulting in itself that, as our opponents themselves admitted, specific high-ranking officials of the Ukrainian government were involved in sending Saakashvili to Georgia, and today, when the same government demands that Saakashvili be returned to Ukraine, this, of course, contains signs of disrespect.”

Read also: Georgian authorities ‘waiting’ for Saakashvili to become disabled, says political scientist

Saakashvili has been incarcerated since his return to Georgia in autumn 2021, prior to local elections in that country. It was his first return since the end of his second presidential term in 2013. He has been sentenced to six years in prison following several cases opened against him by the Georgian government, which critics have lambasted as politically motivated.

Saakashvili, who also served as a former governor of Odesa Oblast, has undertaken several hunger strikes in protest of this politically motivated arrest. Saakashvili's legal team, family, and supporters assert that he requires overseas treatment due to his grave condition, attributed to his hunger strikes and maltreatment.

Saakashvili's attorney, Shalva Khachapuridze, announced in November 2022 that his client had been diagnosed with dementia and tuberculosis. Saakashvili has suggested that he may have been poisoned by Russian agents.

The European Parliament has passed a resolution calling for Saakashvili to be released for treatment abroad.

On July 3, Saakashvili made a remote appearance in a court hearing for the first time in several months, revealing a noticeable deterioration in his health.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine