Georgia’s former President Mikheil Saakashvili, who has been undergoing medical treatment in a Gori military hospital since November 20, has been taken back to prison No.12 in Rustavi, Report informs with reference to TASS.
The transfer of the politician took place on 30 December night. A TV channel camera recorded how an escort of cars, consisting of an ambulance car, cars of escorts and law enforcement officers, left the territory of the hospital. According to Rustavi 2, Saakashvili was in it. Later, the same column drove into the courtyard of the Rustavi prison. Late at night, the authorities also mobilized additional police forces, which were stationed on the grounds of the respective penitentiary.
The Georgian Justice Ministry has not made official comments yet, but Saakashvili's lawyers and associates are sure that he has already been taken from the hospital to the prison.
"We did not know anything about [Saakashvili's] transfer. Moreover, the Special Penitentiary Service has not yet confirmed this to us. Our calls are not answered, but I myself am sure that the [former] president was taken to the Rustavi prison," Saakashvili’s defense lawyer Shota Tutberidze said.
For the first time, they decided to transfer Saakashvili from the hospital to the prison on December 27, but after he was informed of this decision, the politician resisted and lost consciousness. The special penitentiary service decided to postpone the execution of this decision for a while.