“The patient’s current state of health is considered critical,” the group of doctors said in a statement.
According to doctors, the prison hospital where the former president of Georgia is staying does not meet his medical needs.
Therefore, they demand that Saakashvili be immediately transferred to the intensive care unit of a better equipped civilian hospital, AFP reports.
Last week, the former head of state, who went on a 48-day hunger strike to protest his arrest on October 1, shortly after returning from exile in Ukraine, was transferred to a prison hospital due to his deteriorating health.
Despite warnings from doctors that Saakashvili is under threat of death, the Georgian government has so far refused to transfer him to a civilian hospital.
The 53-year-old former Georgian leader said he was mistreated by prison guards and feared for his life.
Human rights groups criticized Saakashvili’s treatment as politically motivated revenge.
Several opposition MPs have also gone on hunger strikes, demanding medical treatment for the former president.
This requirement has already been fulfilled in the United States and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR, its abbreviation in English).
On November 10, the ECHR urgently demanded that the Georgian government “ensure security in prisons”, provide “appropriate medical assistance” and inform the “state of health” of the former head of state.
The Georgian opposition, led by Saakashvili’s United National Movement (UNM), has staged several demonstrations demanding the release of the former president and condemning the results of municipal elections.
Saakashvili left Georgia in 2013 after his presidency ended due to a term limit. He was later stripped of his citizenship and sentenced in absentia to six years in prison for abuse of power.
A charismatic and ambivalent character known for effectively fighting corruption, he is also widely criticized for the disastrous war against Russia in 2008.
His arrest further exacerbated the political crisis in the country, which began with the 2020 parliamentary elections, which were also won by the Georgian Dream party and which the opposition deemed fraudulent.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili was surprised when he stated that Saakashvili “had the right to commit suicide” and that the government was forced to arrest him because he refused to give up politics.
