Ukraine asks Georgian ambassador to leave following Saakashvili’s deplorable condition
Ukraine’s foreign ministry on Tuesday summoned a Georgian ambassador over the deterioration of the health of Mikheil Saakashvili, a Ukrainian citizen and Georgia’s former president on trial in his home country.
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Mr Saakashvili joined a court hearing in Tbilisi, where he is being tried, via video link, making evident his poor health had further deteriorated.
In 2018, Georgia’s ex-president was sentenced in absentia to six years in prison for allegedly beating an MP back in 2005.
In an unusually strongly-worded statement, Kyiv condemned the "absolutely unacceptable" attitude towards Mr Saakashvili by Georgian authorities, demanding they "stop mistreating the Ukrainian citizen".
"Georgian ambassador to Ukraine Giorgi Zakarashvili has been proposed to return to Tbilisi for consultations to search for ways of resolving the situation," the Ukrainian foreign ministry added.
It stressed Kyiv was ready to "immediately discuss the issue of transporting Mikheil Saakashvili to Ukraine for treatment and care".
After falling from power, Georgia’s ex-president left for Ukraine to aid its government after the Revolution of Dignity in 2014.
A highly divisive figure both in Ukraine and back in home, Mr Saakashviil returned to Georgia in 2021, right before the local elections, and was immediately arrested.