Saakashvili Sent Back to Prison After Over Three Years in Civilian Hospital

On November 12, Georgia's Special Penitentiary Service announced that former President Mikheil Saakashvili had been transferred back to Rustavi prison after spending over three years at Tbilisi's Vivamedi clinic, where he had been moved in 2022 due to health issues.

“Since the health condition of convict Mikheil Saakashvili is satisfactory and he no longer requires in-patient treatment, he was discharged from the civilian clinic and returned to the No. 12 penitentiary facility, where he will continue serving his sentence under the general regime,” the prison agency said in a statement, The Caspian Post report citing foreign media.

The health of Saakashvili, who was arrested in October 2021 upon his unexpected return to Georgia, has been a source of recurring controversy. His condition deteriorated during a 50-day hunger strike that he began shortly after his arrest, prompting his transfer to Gori Military Hospital in November following both local and international outcry.

Saakashvili was returned to prison by the end of 2021, but was again hospitalized in May 2022, this time at Tbilisi’s civilian Vivamedi clinic, amid the continued deterioration of his health.

The former president is serving a 12.5-year sentence after being convicted in four separate cases, including three related to his presidential tenure and one for illegal border crossing upon his return in 2021.

He is also awaiting trial in a separate case related to the events of November 7, 2007, including the dispersal of anti-government protests, the raid on Imedi TV, and the seizure of assets linked to tycoon Badri Patarkatsishvili. In addition, the ex-president was among eight opposition leaders charged this November in a “sabotage” case, facing accusations of “calling for the violent overthrow of the constitutional order or state government,” an offense punishable by up to three years in prison.