Saakashvili's Team Says Georgian Authorities Are Preparing His "Liquidation"

Georgia's prime minister called it "nonsense and a provocation before the elections."

Lawyer for detained Mikheil Saakashvili, Nika Gvaramia, said the Georgian authorities are allegedly preparing the "liquidation" of the former president. Meanwhile, Georgian authorities deny such claims.

More on Saakashvili's condition, his ongoing hunger strike and the latest events surrounding him.

Saakashvili's "Liquidation"

Lawyer for the former Georgian president, Nika Gvaramia, said that a staged prison riot would allegedly be simulated at the prison hospital where Saakashvili is planned to be transferred, under cover of which the authorities intend to "liquidate" Saakashvili.

Nika Gvaramia
Saakashvili's lawyer

The transfer to the prison hospital will involve security problems, and, according to our information, these problems will be staged by the country's current authorities. There will be a so-called staged riot that will end in the liquidation of Mikheil Saakashvili.

Authorities' Denial

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili denied the lawyer's statement. He stressed that the rumors are "complete nonsense" and a "provocation on the eve of the elections".

According to Garibashvili, more "false statements" will emerge in the coming week, as the opposition intends to "sow panic ahead of the upcoming vote".

The prime minister also said that during Saakashvili's presidency, people were allegedly tortured in Georgian prisons.

He stressed that Saakashvili's supporters will broadcast the entire hunger strike of a man "whom no one is preventing from eating". He also said that after Saakashvili's scheduled hospitalization he will be returned to his cell. 

About the Hospitalization

Saakashvili is currently on the 24th day of his hunger strike in prison.

A medical council formed under Georgia's Ministry of Health recommends transferring Saakashvili to a multifunctional mixed-type clinic. The politician's lawyers also support this position.

However, Georgia's Ministry of Justice agrees to hospitalize Saakashvili only in a prison hospital in Tbilisi.

Nika Gvaramia
Saakashvili's lawyer

There is a risk of cardiac arrest. The clinic must have a second-level cardiology service. In particular, interventional cardiology, an angiocardiology laboratory, endocardial pacemaker implantation, implantation and catheter ablation, and treatment of angina and thrombotic complications. This is not possible in a prison hospital.