Zelensky asks Georgian PM to allow Ukrainian doctors to visit Saakashvili

12.11.2021 11:15

Ukrinform

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has asked Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili to consider allowing Ukrainian doctors to visit Mikheil Saakashvili, the former president of Georgia and chairman of the executive committee of Ukraine's National Reform Council.

According to the presidential press service, Zelensky made the request in a phone call with Garibashvili.

The president raised the issue of ensuring Saakashvili's rights and stressed that they should be fully guaranteed in accordance with international law.

Zelensky said that using force against a Ukrainian citizen is unacceptable.

He also stressed that Saakashvili's mother and relatives should be allowed to see him.

"Ukraine always protects the legal rights and interests of its citizens," Zelensky said.

Saakashvili was detained in Georgia on October 1, where a number of criminal cases have been opened against him. It emerged on October 2 that Saakashvili had gone on a hunger strike, calling himself a political prisoner.

On November 8, Saakashvili was transferred from a prison in Rustavi to a prison hospital in the Gldani district of Tbilisi.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry called for transferring Saakashvili to a civilian medical institution.