Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashili, who was sentenced to prison in several criminal cases, has returned to his cell after several years at the Vivamed clinic. As stated in the Special Rehabilitation Service of the Ministry of Justice of Georgia, his health condition is stable, no hospital treatment is needed, so Saakashvili was discharged from the civil hospital. “And he has returned to re-education camp No. 12, where he will continue to serve his sentence generally,” the ministry said.
The Minister of Health of the Republic, Mikhail Sarzhveladze, commented on the incident: “A person who has no health problems and is serving a sentence must be in prison, like all other prisoners.” According to him, there is no argument against sending Saakashili back to his cell. For his part, the representative of the Vivamed clinic said that the patient's health condition was no longer suitable for him to continue staying at the clinic, so the doctors decided to discharge him.
The former president of Georgia was arrested in 2021 when he entered the country illegally and was detained. The court sentenced him to more than 12 years in prison in four criminal cases. In another case involving the dispersal of protests in 2007, the process has not yet been completed. In addition, Saakashvili was recently charged with a new crime. “Criminal prosecution has begun for crimes against the state – sabotage, support of foreign powers in hostile activities, financing of activities against the foundations of the constitutional order and national security, calls for violent changes of the constitutional system or the overthrow of state power,” Georgian Prosecutor General Giorgi Gvarakidze noted in early November. So Saakashvili's prison term could be significantly increased. And this is not to mention the fact that in September the Tbilisi City Court ordered Saakashvili to pay about 3.3 million USD to the state budget “in the case of coats”, that is, embezzlement of funds. During the investigation, it turned out that at state expense the former president bought several suits, coats, outerwear, handmade watches with a total value of more than 60 thousand USD, rented cars, yachts, helicopters, paid for luxury hotels for his supporters and even bought a painting.
Although 4 years have passed since his arrest, Saakashvili only spent a total of about 6 months in prison. The rest of the time he spent in clinics: first in prison, then in the military hospital in Gori, and from May 2022 – in the Vivamedi clinic in Tbilisi. The participation of doctors was needed due to the hunger strike announced by Saakashvili.
At Vivamedi, according to local media, the former president was put in a luxury area and he had access to the Internet and TV. At first, his supporters actively visited him, and only in 2024 visits were limited and only relatives and lawyers were allowed to meet Saakashvili. However, access to the Internet allowed him to continue participating in Georgia's political life, distributing instructions to members of the United National Movement party he founded through social networks. Among them were public calls for the occupation of government buildings.
