Georgia's government should take urgent steps to protect the life of imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili, including releasing him on health grounds, Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International (AI) said in a joint statement on March 2.
Saakashvili, who was Georgia’s president from 2004 to 2013, is serving a six-year sentence for abuse of power that he and supporters call politically motivated. He has been in hospital for several months after refusing food to protest his detention.
Saakashvili's health has reportedly deteriorated gradually, leading to his losing more than 50 kilograms since his imprisonment in 2021, according to Giorgi Grigolia, a member of a council of doctors set up by Georgia's rights ombudsman, who said he "isn't receiving proper medical treatment."
Mikheil Saakashvili
The two rights watchdogs said that by denying Saakahsvili proper medical care, Georgian authorities are "putting him at grave risk of death, permanent disability, or other irreversible damage to his health."
Georgian officials have repeatedly voiced doubts about how critical Saakahsvili's health state actually is, and a court last month rejected his request to suspend his sentence.
Saakashvili called the move a "death sentence" handed to him by his political opponents.
"The denial of adequate medical care to Mikheil Saakashvili may amount to torture or other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment and is putting his life at grave risk," AI's Denis Krivosheev said on March 2.
"The Georgian authorities should urgently take measures to protect Saakashvili’s health, including considering his release on medical grounds," Krivosheev said.
"Deaths in custody resulting from the deliberate denial of health care amount to arbitrary deprivation of life, which is a serious violation under international human rights law."
HRW's Hugh Williamson said, "A prison sentence should not mean a death sentence where treatable conditions tragically become fatal."