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Carl Hartzell: EU remains concerned about the state of Mr Mikheil Saakashvili’s condition and about the risks of a sudden and irreversible degradation of his health

Carl Hartzell: EU remains concerned about the state of Mr Mikheil Saakashvili’s condition and about the risks of a sudden and irreversible degradation of his health
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The EU remains concerned about the state of Mr Mikheil Saakashvili’s condition and about the risks of a sudden and irreversible degradation of his health, - EU Ambassador to Georgia Carl Hartzell told Interpressnews in connection with the third President of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili.

According to the EU Ambassador, the recommendations of the Medical Council have not yet been fully implemented. The Ambassador calls on the Georgian authorities to immediately ensure their full implementation.

In addition, Carl Hartzel calls on the Georgian authorities to ensure that transparent and fair judicial proceedings can take place in all cases brought against Mikheil Saakashvili, in an independent and impartial tribunal.

"The EU remains concerned about the state of Mr Mikheil Saakashvili’s condition and about the risks of a sudden and irreversible degradation of his health. We are also very attentive to the full respect of his rights as a prisoner, including in terms of privacy and dignity, and as a person standing trial.

We strongly support the work of the Medical Council set up last month by the Government of Georgia to monitor the health of Mr Saakashvili and we hope they will continue their valuable work, as well as the work of the Public Defender who has a specific constitutional role of supervising the protection of human rights in Georgia.

We also welcome the close scrutiny undertaken by the State Inspector’s Office on the subject of the rights of prisoners.

We are constantly monitoring the recommendations and assessments by these bodies, as well as the positions expressed by the Georgian authorities and the lawyers of Mr Saakashvili.

Consequently, with regard to Mr Saakashvili’s health, we note that the recommendations by the Medical Council have not yet been fully implemented, and call on the Georgian authorities to immediately ensure their full implementation.

On the upholding of his rights as a prisoner, we note that Mr Saakashvili has been subject to an insulting and threatening environment in the Gldani prison, and that he claims to have been subject to a violent and deceitful transfer. We also note that videos of Mr Saakashvili in prison and his private health-related data have been published by the authorities. We therefore call on the Georgian authorities to ensure that national legislation and international commitments, including in terms of the European Convention on Human Rights, are fully upheld.

On Mr Saakashvili’s rights as a person standing trial, we note that Mr Saakashvili was not allowed to attend trial in person earlier today in the Tbilisi City Court for security reasons. We recall that, according to the European Convention on Human Rights, everyone charged with a criminal offence has, among a number of minimum rights, the right to defend himself in person or through legal assistance of his own choosing. Against this background, we call on the Georgian authorities to ensure that transparent and fair judicial proceedings can take place in all cases brought against Mr Saakashvili, in an independent and impartial tribunal.

We take note of the constructive commitment made by the UNM leadership not to hold protest rallies in the vicinity of any hospital that Mr Saakashvili may be transferred to, in view of addressing concerns previously expressed by the security services, should such a transfer take place.

The European Union will remain very attentive to the situation and is liaising closely with other organisations, including the Council of Europe", - the Ambassador told Interpressnews.

Carl Hartzell: EU remains concerned about the state of Mr Mikheil Saakashvili’s condition and about the risks of a sudden and irreversible degradation of his health

The EU remains concerned about the state of Mr Mikheil Saakashvili’s condition and about the risks of a sudden and irreversible degradation of his health, - EU Ambassador to Georgia Carl Hartzell told Interpressnews in connection with the third President of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili.

According to the EU Ambassador, the recommendations of the Medical Council have not yet been fully implemented. The Ambassador calls on the Georgian authorities to immediately ensure their full implementation.

In addition, Carl Hartzel calls on the Georgian authorities to ensure that transparent and fair judicial proceedings can take place in all cases brought against Mikheil Saakashvili, in an independent and impartial tribunal.

"The EU remains concerned about the state of Mr Mikheil Saakashvili’s condition and about the risks of a sudden and irreversible degradation of his health. We are also very attentive to the full respect of his rights as a prisoner, including in terms of privacy and dignity, and as a person standing trial.

We strongly support the work of the Medical Council set up last month by the Government of Georgia to monitor the health of Mr Saakashvili and we hope they will continue their valuable work, as well as the work of the Public Defender who has a specific constitutional role of supervising the protection of human rights in Georgia.

We also welcome the close scrutiny undertaken by the State Inspector’s Office on the subject of the rights of prisoners.

We are constantly monitoring the recommendations and assessments by these bodies, as well as the positions expressed by the Georgian authorities and the lawyers of Mr Saakashvili.

Consequently, with regard to Mr Saakashvili’s health, we note that the recommendations by the Medical Council have not yet been fully implemented, and call on the Georgian authorities to immediately ensure their full implementation.

On the upholding of his rights as a prisoner, we note that Mr Saakashvili has been subject to an insulting and threatening environment in the Gldani prison, and that he claims to have been subject to a violent and deceitful transfer. We also note that videos of Mr Saakashvili in prison and his private health-related data have been published by the authorities. We therefore call on the Georgian authorities to ensure that national legislation and international commitments, including in terms of the European Convention on Human Rights, are fully upheld.

On Mr Saakashvili’s rights as a person standing trial, we note that Mr Saakashvili was not allowed to attend trial in person earlier today in the Tbilisi City Court for security reasons. We recall that, according to the European Convention on Human Rights, everyone charged with a criminal offence has, among a number of minimum rights, the right to defend himself in person or through legal assistance of his own choosing. Against this background, we call on the Georgian authorities to ensure that transparent and fair judicial proceedings can take place in all cases brought against Mr Saakashvili, in an independent and impartial tribunal.

We take note of the constructive commitment made by the UNM leadership not to hold protest rallies in the vicinity of any hospital that Mr Saakashvili may be transferred to, in view of addressing concerns previously expressed by the security services, should such a transfer take place.

The European Union will remain very attentive to the situation and is liaising closely with other organisations, including the Council of Europe", - the Ambassador told Interpressnews.

Michał Kobosko - we hope that your government eventually would either choose the European way, the democratic way or would resign seeing the number, the size and scale of the citizens' protests