Ukrainian authorities on Thursday condemned the «inhumane treatment» of former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, who has been imprisoned since 2021, and called for an end to the «harassment» suffered by the ex-president.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has accused in a statement the Georgian prison authorities of using «the worst tactics of the former KGB» against the former president and «denying him urgent access to health care, which deliberately puts his life in danger».
He warned that this is a «gross violation of human rights against a Ukrainian citizen», which demonstrates «the collapse of democracy in Georgia». For this reason, he asked the authorities to «immediately stop the abuses against Saakashvili» and leave him in the hands of the Ukrainian authorities.
«Do not play with the life of a person for political revenge», the Ministry pointed out, urging the international community to defend him publicly since «his life is in danger».
For his part, the advisor to the Ukrainian Presidency, Mikhail Podoliak, accused Georgia of killing «live» former President Saakashvili, also a Ukrainian citizen, and called for his release. «I myself am ready to go and pick him up personally,» he has said.
«A country that indulges in the live assassination of its former leader is committing a historical sin that will be difficult to wash away. Do not let this happen. Release Mikhail Saakashvili for treatment,» he has written on his Twitter social network account.
«I am ready to go and pick him up personally,» Podoliak emphasized, alongside a series of photographs of a convalescent Saakashvili, a strategy already used by Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski during the press conference he shared Wednesday with Austrian President Alexander van der Bellen.
The former president’s family has repeatedly demanded that he be transferred to a clinic for treatment, while a group of experts has asserted that he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, anorexia and depression, according to information from the Civil portal.
The treatment given to the former president has been the subject of criticism and controversy since he was detained in October 2021 after returning to Georgia on the eve of the elections.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
