Eduard Saakashvili: We should not allow my father, Mikheil Saakashvili, to die in prison - the Georgian government should take the right step and allow him to be treated abroad

We should not allow my father, Mikheil Saakashvili, to die in prison, or to cause irreparable damage to his health. We must endure this difficult time. The solution is very simple, the government of Georgia should take the right step and allow him to be treated abroad, Eduard Saakashvili, the son of former president Mikheil Saakashvili, said at a briefing held with MEPs in the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

According to him, Mikheil Saakashvili's medical reports are worrying and the situation is getting worse.

"Thank you very much for welcoming us, your support is very important for our family and for many people in Georgia.

I never liked speaking in public, but the situation is different from what was before. I see my father getting weaker and weaker, a person who was energetic, ambitious, charismatic, restless is in such a state. We are concerned with the medical reports and we see a pretty grim picture and the situation is getting worse. Since the beginning of his imprisonment, he has been treated poorly, he has been in the hospital for 6 months and his condition has worsened. We don't think the situation is hopeless, when I go to Brussels and Strasbourg I see growing support from across the political spectrum, that there is a recognition that the situation as it is today with my father has to change. We should not allow my father, Mikheil Saakashvili, to die in prison, or to cause irreparable damage to his health. We must endure this difficult time. The solution is very simple, the Georgian government should take the right step and allow him to be treated abroad. Something has to change and my father's life has to be saved. His health must be preserved. This is a combination of knowledge and hope, with which I say that my father, Mikheil Saakashvili, will not die in prison," said Eduard Saakashvili.

*The quotes in the article have been double-translated from Georgian and wordings may be inaccurate.

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