Justice Minister: Strasbourg Court Rejects Request to Transfer Saakashvili to Warsaw for Treatment
Georgian Justice Minister, Rati Bregadze said at a news briefing on May 12 that the European Court of Human Rights rejected the request to use an interim measure to transfer imprisoned ex-president, Mikheil Saakashvili, to Warsaw for treatment. Nor did the court order the state to transfer him to another medical facility in the country, the Minister added. He also noted that the relevant decision was published by the European Court of Human Rights today; however, the decision is not yet available on the court’s official website.
”All this shows what we have been talking about many times, that all the actions of the state from the day of his entry [into the prison system] were correct and were in accordance with the highest standards of human rights,” Minister Bregadze said.
He also thanked “all the dignified employees of the penitentiary system who truly protect human rights” for their work. “Special thanks also go to the medical personnel, who, despite many insults and slanders, have unswervingly carried out and continue to carry out their duties and stand on the guard of human health,” he added.
“We are following and will continue to follow the doctors’ recommendations, and when we have an appropriate conclusion, he will be transferred to the appropriate penitentiary institution,” the Minister stressed, adding that “at this stage, there is no precondition for transferring him to another clinic or penitentiary institution and therefore he will continue to be treated at the Vivamed clinic,” where he has been since May 2022.
Rati Bregadze also emphasized that from the very first day of Mikheil Saakashvili’s imprisonment, “a targeted slander campaign financed by unknown sources began, aimed at presenting Georgia as a state where someone is allegedly being tortured.”
“To achieve this goal, this group of people even went so far as to incite the prisoner to go on four episodes of hunger strike, not to follow the recommendations of doctors, not to receive treatment and, accordingly, to worsen his own health condition, which is nothing but self-harm,” Rati Bregadze said, adding that the legal disputes launched in Georgia “on the grounds of artificial deterioration of the state of health as part of the campaign for freedom” ended with an undesirable result for the defense of the former president, and the same happened in Strasbourg.
Remarks of the ex-President’s defense lawyer
Shota Tutberidze, the defense lawyer of ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili, said after the Minister’s news briefing that this was not the last decision of the Strasbourg court. “It was a procedural decision related to the issue of Saakashvili’s transfer before the consideration of the lawsuit on an interim measure,” he explained.
Tutberidze also noted that the defense used all, even small and theoretical levers, provided by the European Convention on Human Rights and the rules of court work. “On this procedural issue, the European Court did not order the Georgian government to immediately transfer Saakashvili to Warsaw. At least, the consideration of the case has not ended… the European Court will discuss this issue and make the final decision,” he added.
Remarks of President Salome Zurabishvili
Commenting on the Strasbourg court’s decision, Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili said that it was important that the European Court of Human Rights did not agree to the urgent transfer of the former president to a medical facility in a foreign country.
“It is important that this decision did not cause new damage to Georgia’s reputation, especially at a time when Georgia’s candidate status is being discussed,” President Zurabishvili said, adding “at the same time, I believe that it is necessary to ensure his right to life and health in the future.”
This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)
