The third President of Georgia must be provided proper medical treatment

28.04.2022

We, the signatory organizations, respond to the ongoing events associated with the deteriorating health of the imprisoned third president of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili. We believe that an urgent decision must be made to ensure proper treatment for him, including the provision of medical care abroad.

We would like to remind the public that according to the conclusion of the alternative medical council created under the auspices of the Public Defender of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili’s health condition has deteriorated. He suffers from serious physical and psychological health problems linked to anorexia and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Accordingly, the prisoner should be immediately provided with proper medical care. Any further decisions should exclude considerations of political expediency. Instead, the relevant institutions should be guided only by the standard of protection of the right to life, health, and personal safety.

In view of the above, we demand that the third president of Georgia be immediately provided with the medical services necessary to ensure his fundamental rights to life and health, which the state is legally obliged to protect under constitutional and international law.

  • Open Society Georgia Foundation (OSGF)
  • Transparency International  Georgia (TI)
  • International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED)
  • Economic Policy Research Center (EPRC)
  • Georgian Democracy Initiative (GDI)
  • Court Watch (Georgian Court Watch)
  • Prevention for Progress
  • Georgian Young Lawyers Association (GYLA)
  • Partnership for Human Rights (PHR)
  • Democracy Research Institute (DRI)
  • Georgian Center for Psychosocial and Medical Rehabilitation of Torture Victims (GCRT)
  • Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI)
  • Tolerance and Diversity Institute (TDI)
  • Human Rights Center (HRC)
  • Union Sapari
  • Institute for Democracy and Safe Development (IDSD)
  • Media Development Fund (MDF)
  • Green Alternative