TBILISI – Mikheil Saakashvili, former Georgian president, who is being held in a Georgian prison, is now in serious condition and may face a collapse any moment, with unclear chances to recover from the condition; messages that he conveys should be published in social media rather than be read aloud outside the prison walls, his attorney Nika Gvaramia told reporters on Nov. 5.
“Maybe, Mikhail Saakashvili will be rescued from the collapse, but to us, it’s crucial to save his sanity and ability of thought. Today, I became convinced once again that the situation with Saakashvili’s mental well-being remains difficult. The fact that Saakashvili can move about doesn’t mean that he controls the situation psychologically,” Gvaramia said after meeting with the former Georgian president.
Gvaramia went on to ask everyone visiting Saakashvili in prison to refrain from reading aloud his written statements in public.
“I don’t want to be misunderstood but everyone must remember that the man is in serious condition, primarily as a result of the hunger strike, which has an impact on his psyche. Perhaps, not all the statements that Saakashvili conveys may be sound. So one shouldn’t read them aloud outside the walls of the prison. They should be posted on his pages in social media,” Gvaramia said. He has been talking of Saakashvili’s mental problems for the second straight day.
Some other attorneys visited Saakashvili earlier on Nov. 5. None of them has spoken about any mental abnormalities.
The former Georgian president and now a Ukrainian citizen, Saakashvili secretly arrived from Ukraine to Georgia on Sept. 29. On Oct. 1, he was detained in Tbilisi. Saakashvili is currently in a prison in the city of Rustavi. The Georgian Prosecutor’s Office issued a resolution to charge Saakashvili with crossing the border illegally.
Saakashvili has been a defendant in several criminal cases in Georgia. He views his arrest as illegal and charges against him as fabricated.
