TBILISI -- Jailed former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, who is being treated in a private clinic in Tbilisi for health problems, is being transferred to an intensive-care unit, his associates say, a claim the hospital's personnel are denying.
Saakashvili's lawyer, Shalva Khachapuridze, along with opposition politician Giorgi Chaladze, said on January 31 that Saakashvili's state of health had worsened further, prompting his move to an intensive-care unit of the Vivamedi hospital.
However, hospital director Nino Nadiradze told RFE/RL's Georgian Service that the former leader remained in his hospital room and had not been moved.
Saakashvili's mother, Giuli Alasania, said earlier in the day that her son, who was diagnosed with COVID-19 several days ago, "again fell unconscious" overnight and that his body temperature had risen to 39 degrees Celsius.
Medical personnel have yet to confirm her statement.
On January 28, Vivamedi's chief physician, Zurab Chkhaidze, told journalists that Saakashvili had dramatically reduced his food consumption and was rejecting medical treatment.
Chkhaidze then called on Saakashvili's relatives to convince him to obey the doctors' recommendations.
The imprisoned ex-president has been treated at the Vivamedi facility since May 2022. Doctors said earlier this month that Saakashvili contracted a mild form of COVID and therefore did not need treatment in intensive care.
Saakashvili, who was president from 2004 to 2013, is serving a six-year sentence for abuse of power, a charge that he and his supporters say was politically motivated.
His medical team says his health has worsened significantly since he went to prison in October 2021 and staged repeated hunger strikes to protest his incarceration.
His lawyers have sought to have his sentence suspended so he can be transferred abroad for more intensive care.
In early December, Saakashvili's legal team distributed a medical report that said he had been "poisoned" with heavy metals while in custody and risked dying without proper treatment.
But Georgian officials have raised doubts about how critical his health situation is.
Saakashvili is currently on trial on separate charges of violently dispersing an anti-government rally in November 2007 and illegal border crossing. He has rejected those charges as well, calling them trumped-up.