Former President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili was discharged from a clinic in Tbilisi and sent back to prison to serve his sentence. The country's penitentiary service justified this by the politician's "satisfactory" health condition, writes DW.
Former President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili was discharged from a clinic in Tbilisi, where he had been since 2022, and sent back to "Correctional Facility No. 12" (Rustavi Prison), where he will continue to serve his sentence under general conditions. This was reported on Wednesday, November 12, by the Special Penitentiary Service of Georgia on Facebook.
The post claims that Saakashvili's health condition is currently "satisfactory," and therefore he no longer "requires inpatient treatment." The Georgian penitentiary service refers to the decision of the politician's attending physician.
Criminal Prosecution of Saakashvili in Georgia
The former president returned to Georgia on the night of September 29, 2021 - according to the investigation, he secretly arrived at the Georgian port of Poti on the ferry "Vilnius," hiding in a truck. Saakashvili posted a video on Facebook urging citizens to vote against the ruling party "Georgian Dream" in the elections on October 2. In his next video, the former head of state called on citizens to organize protests, predicting falsifications. The police and special services were able to establish the politician's whereabouts on October 1. He was detained in Tbilisi in the apartment of the driver of the trailer he arrived in and taken into custody.
In October 2021, while in prison, Saakashvili declared a hunger strike, which lasted for 50 days and he only ended after being transferred to a military hospital in Gori for rehabilitation. However, upon returning to prison on February 21, 2022, the politician declared another hunger strike, which lasted another 20 days. On May 12, due to a deterioration in health, he was transferred from prison to a private clinic "Vivamed" in Tbilisi, where he was held in a separate room under guard. On January 31, 2023, Ukrainian MP Yelyzaveta Yasko stated that Saakashvili was transferred to intensive care in critical condition. The clinic denied this.
Saakashvili is currently serving a six-year sentence for the beating of MP Valeri Gelashvili and for pardoning the murderers of bank employee Sandro Girgvliani. On March 12, 2025, the Tbilisi City Court also sentenced the former president to nine years in prison for embezzling 9 million lari (approximately 3 million euros) from the budget. On March 17, the same court gave him another 4.5 years for illegally crossing the state border. As a result of the partial consolidation of sentences, the total prison term for the politician reached 12 years and 6 months.
