Health fears for Georgia’s jailed ex-leader Saakashvili after TV footage

TBILISI — Former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili appeared on television for the first time in months on Monday, looking frail and emaciated, as concerns grow over the detained politician’s treatment.

Leader of the Caucasus country from 2004 to 2013, Saakashvili was jailed after returning from exile on abuse of power charges that rights groups denounce as politically motivated.

Doctors have said Saakashvili risks dying from conditions he has developed while in custody, though Georgian authorities say he is being given adequate medical care.

Appearing via video link for a court hearing on the “abuse of office” charges, Saakashvili, 55, lifted his shirt to show his ribs protruding from his chest, a hollow abdomen, and skin clinging tightly to his bones.

“A totally innocent man is being kept in custody,” he said in coverage carried live on several independent TV channels. “I did not commit any crime.”

He is being held at a civilian hospital, where he was transferred last year after staging a 50-day hunger strike to protest his detention.

“Putting me in jail will not break me. I am going to be actively involved in Georgian politics,” he said.

Two groups of doctors — one set up by Georgia’s rights ombudsperson, another consisting of US-based medics — have said that Saakashvili’s health continued to decline well after he ended his hunger strike.

The group of US-based doctors, who examined Saakashvili in person, said his deteriorating health was the result of “torture” in custody, saying he needed an immediate transfer to a medical centre abroad.

The politician, who once weighed more than 100 kilogrammes, has lost around 60 kilogrammes while in prison, the doctor groups say.

The European Union and the United States have urged Georgia to ensure that Saakashvili is provided medical treatment and that his rights are protected.

Amnesty International has branded his treatment as “apparent political revenge”.