The ex-president of Georgia is almost unrecognizable in court: this is how he degraded in a year and a half | outside

His brother David takes into account that Saakashvili will be poisoned in the cell. He replies to local media: “History will tell. It’s not really good. His weight is going really bad. I can’t say how much Michelle still weighs, but he continues to lose weight and is on his way to death.”

Before his arrest in October 2021, Saakashvili – who has a height of 1.95 meters – weighed about 120 kilograms. And in February of this year, the former president said in an interview with the British news channel “Sky News” that he weighs only 64 kilograms. Photographs taken at the time in the courtroom showed his precarious condition.

look. This is one of the last photos of Saakashvili – which was still circulating in October – and even then he looked bad

He said, “If I go below 60 kilos, the doctors say I will have multiple organ failure.” “I’m in bed all the time. My bones are melting and it hurts so bad.”

Saakashvili was Georgia’s president from 2004 to 2013. He came to power after the “Rose Revolution” in 2003, when Georgians emerged from Russian domination. When Moscow sent its tanks into Georgia four years later, Saakashvili also led the fight against Russian aggression.

After his presidency, Saakashvili spent a lot of time in Ukraine, where he received citizenship and held the post of governor of Odessa for a year and a half. When he first returned to Georgia in October 2021, he was arrested for clandestinely crossing the border.

There were several other charges against him. For example, during government protests in 2007 – in which he was accused of corruption and nepotism – he sent the police against the protesters. This led to riots, in which more than 500 people were injured. Two important television stations were also closed.

In protest of his imprisonment, Saakashvili went on a hunger strike for 50 days. This has damaged his health so much that he has been taken to a private clinic for the past year. According to Saakashvili, he was also poisoned in prison. This claim was confirmed by an independent expert earlier this year.

Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili refuses to pardon Saakashvili, saying the Georgian people want him to be punished.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of “killing Ukrainian citizen Mikheil Saakashvili by the Georgian authorities.” That’s what he said on Twitter tonight. He asks Tbilisi to stop the “abuse” and allow Saakashvili to return to Ukraine.

Today I asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to summon the Georgian ambassador to Ukraine and express our strong protest and demand that we leave Ukraine within 48 hours for consultations with his capital. I also urge our partners to deal with this situation, not ignore it, and save this man. “No government in Europe has the right to execute people, life is a basic European value,” Zelensky said.