The medical report stated that former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili was “poisoned” with heavy metals in his prison in Georgia and that he was “at risk of death if not properly treated.”
Saakashvili, 54, who is also an opposition leader in Georgia, was transferred to a hospital last year after a fifty-day hunger strike to protest his imprisonment on charges of influence peddling that he claims are political in nature.
In a report released by his lawyers, American toxicologist David Smith confirmed that “tests revealed the presence of traces of heavy metals” in the former president’s body and that his symptoms were “the result of poisoning with these metals.”
Smith added: “With a reasonable degree of medical certainty” these toxic substances, including mercury and arsenic, appeared in Saakashvili’s body after his imprisonment.
According to the authors of the November 28 report, Saakashvili is undergoing treatment that would be harmful without proper supervision.
Smith warned of an “increased and imminent risk of death” without proper treatment and “which appears to have been rejected or unavailable” in Georgia.
And the agency quoted Agence France Presse as saying Dr. Maryam Gashkariani, who led the panel of doctors who examined Saakashvili, that “he was diagnosed with brain damage and neurotoxicity.”
“He suffers from a number of serious illnesses out of all proportion to his time in prison,” she added.
While Georgian authorities confirmed that Saakashvili was receiving the assistance he needed, President Salome Zurabishvili announced that a court would decide whether he should be released on medical grounds.
Council of Doctors member Tengiz Tsuladze said on Sunday that Saakashvili “lost more than 40 kilograms” during his arrest.
Saakashvili became his country’s president between 2004 and 2013 and was imprisoned in October 2021, days after his return from exile, where he lived for years while he was pursued by the Georgian judiciary.
Source: AFP