Saakashvili diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, but it did not prevent him from attending the trial

Thousands of supporters of the former president also came to the court.

Post-traumatic stress disorder has been confirmed in Mikheil Saakashvili, the third president of Georgia and a citizen of Ukraine, Georgia Online reports.

Meanwhile, Saakashvili was brought to court hearings for the first time, and clashes broke out outside the courthouse between Saakashvili's supporters and police.

PTSD

According to Mariam Jishkariani, president of the Empathy center, Saakashvili does not have a mental disorder that would prevent him from appearing at the trial on November 30.

As she told journalists outside the Gori Military Hospital, Saakashvili needs inpatient multidisciplinary treatment, namely rehabilitation.

Mariam Jishkariani
president of the Empathy center

According to the preliminary results that I can report, post-traumatic stress disorder is confirmed, which is linked to the torture in prison and in the system; there are also neurological symptoms. You know that this concerns encephalopathy, which is the result of a hunger strike. He will make the decision about the trial himself; he does not have a mental disorder that would prevent him from appearing in court. He makes the decision on this himself.

First hearings with Saakashvili himself

Meanwhile, Saakashvili was brought to court in Tbilisi on November 29. The former president of Georgia appeared at the hearings in person for the first time.

Saakashvili was brought under heavy guard from the military hospital in the city of Gori, where he had been transferred earlier after almost seven weeks of hunger strike.

"I do not recognize the prosecution's charges or Georgian justice. I am not here to be part of a comedy that has already been written in advance," Saakashvili said, addressing the panel of judges.

After court bailiffs brought the politician into the courtroom, supporters of the former president present there sang the Georgian anthem. The judges made a remark and demanded silence. "You are banning the Georgian anthem, which I created?" Saakashvili asked the judges.

Besides Saakashvili, the courtroom holds his lawyers and the mother of Giuli Anlasania. Of the media, only journalists and camera operators from the Georgian Public Broadcaster's First Channel are present at the hearing.

Protest by Saakashvili's supporters

Before the hearing began, around 2,000-3,000 people gathered on the street adjacent to the court. They began to rally. A large number of police were mobilized.

Those gathered chanted: "Misha! Misha!" Law enforcement officers tried to open the road for traffic, after which they used pepper spray on one of the demonstrators.

Patrol police detained one of the opposition leaders, Gigi Ugulava, in front of the building. According to media reports, the charge is administrative: disobeying lawful police orders.

In addition, a number of protest participants who tried to block the central highway were detained.