Saakashvili diagnosed with dementia and tuberculosis, attorney says
Former Georgian president has over 30 medical conditions (Photo:Mikheil Saakashvili/Facebook)
Former president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili has been diagnosed with dementia and tuberculosis, his attorney Shalva Khachapuridze said on the Georgian Times TV channel, according to Georgian newspaper newposts.ge.
“Dementia is only one of the many (illnesses) that Mikheil Saakashvili has,” Khachapuridze said.
“Today he was diagnosed with tuberculosis,” the attorney said. “I received the news about his tuberculosis an hour ago from the German doctors. He doesn't even know it yet, this is the first time I'm saying it publicly.”
Previously, in a statement for Interpressnews, Khachapuridze stated that Saakashvili is suspected of having about 34 medical conditions.
The Georgian authorities commented on the lawyer’s information about the ex-president’s health.
The Minister of Justice of Georgia Rati Bregadze stated that any speculation about this issue was unethical.
“Guessing about health is, to put it mildly, unethical. That's why I cannot answer you anything more on this matter. I cannot start any premature assessments,” he said.
“There are all the conditions created by the state so that (Saakashvili’s) health is protected, and his rights are guaranteed, and he is in the appropriate clinic,” the Georgian minister said.
The ex-president of Georgia and a citizen of Ukraine, Saakashvili has been behind bars since his secret return to Georgia on the eve of local elections in the fall of 2021. He had not been in the country since his second term as president ended in 2013.
The politician has protested his imprisonment by going on hunger strike several times, insisting that he was arrested for political reasons.
According to the statement of Saakashvili's lawyers, family and supporters, as a result of the hunger strike and improper treatment, the politician's health is deteriorating seriously, and he needs treatment abroad.
As of today, Saakashvili has been transferred from prison to the Vivamedi medical clinic in the Georgian capital Tbilisi.
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