The former president of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, is in dire straits – His life is in danger

The former president of Georgia is thin and in poor condition Mikheil Saakashviliwho was sentenced to six years in prison for “abuse of power”, a decision he disputes and denounces as politics.

The 55-year-old former leader, noted for his imposing stature, had a pillow propped up on his back, his hands were shaking and his hair, which was once black, has turned gray, according to images broadcast by television channels.

Saakashvili was sentenced in 2018 in absentia as he was in self-exile and he was arrested on his return to Georgia in October 2021. Heading Georgia from 2004 to 2013, the charismatic and pro-Western leader was president during a summer 2008 war with Russia, which resulted in his country’s defeat soon after.

His life is in danger

His health deteriorated rapidly during his detention, mainly due to the many hunger strikes he went on to protest his imprisonment. Authorities took him to the hospital. where he continues to serve his sentence.

A team of US doctors who examined him at the request of his lawyers told AFP on Tuesday that Saakashvili was suffering from complications from his detention conditions and that his life was in danger.as reported by APE-MPE, citing AFP.

One of those doctors, American toxicologist David Smith, confirmed that tests revealed “the presence of heavy metals” in the body of the former president and that the symptoms he presents “it is a result of heavy metal poisoning». The same doctors also deemed it necessary to transfer the former president to a hospital abroad to undergo surgeries that, according to them, cannot be performed in Georgia.

The United States and the European Union have repeatedly expressed concern about his state of health. The Georgian authorities, for their part, maintain that Saakashvili is receiving the medical services he needs.