On Monday, Georgian TV channels broadcast images showing former head of state Mikheil Saakashvili looking weakened during a court hearing, fueling fears about his health, AFP reported. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine summoned the ambassador of Georgia to a consultation as a sign of protest, saying that the Georgian authorities really want the “death” of Saakashvili.

Mykhailo Saakashvili appeared at this videoconference meeting with an exhausted face.

The former president, aged 55, lifted his shirt to reveal his torso, ribs and stomach, according to these images.

“An absolutely innocent person is being held in custody,” condemned Mykhailo Saakashvili, who is on trial for “abuse of power”, a charge he denies, News.ro reports.

Mykhailo Saakashvili from 115 kilograms to 60 kilograms

His doctors say that Mykhailo Saakashvili, who weighed 115 kilograms before his arrest, lost 60 kilograms in prison, was poisoned by heavy metals, and suffers from anorexia and cachexia.

Mikheil Saakashvili, who led Georgia from 2004 to 2013 and then exiled himself abroad for eight years, was arrested after returning to the country in 2021.

Currently, he is the main figure of the opposition of the current government.

After a 50-day hunger strike in 2022, he was hospitalized, and his rare public court appearances showed a clear and visible deterioration in his health.

On Monday, despite his worsening weakness, he showed his combativeness in court.

“A prison term will not break me. I will take an active part in Georgian politics,” he said.

The Georgian authorities claim that Mykhailo Saakashvili is receiving all necessary medical care in the prison hospital, where he is still being held.

However, several doctors who examined Mykhailo Saakashvili in recent months, including American specialists, expressed concern about the deterioration of his health.

Last year, the Council of Europe (CoE) called for the release of Mihai Saakashvili and announced that it considered him a “political prisoner.”

The non-governmental organization Amnesty International qualified the treatment of Mikheil Saakashvili as “clear political revenge”.

Ukraine summoned the Georgian ambassador to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, criticized the actions of the Georgian authorities against a citizen of Ukraine and announced the summons to the Foreign Ministry of the Georgian ambassador, Ukrainian Pravda reports.

The head of the Foreign Ministry explained that after the footage from today’s hearing, where Saakashvili looks extremely malnourished and exhausted, “everything reached a boiling point”, which prompted Kyiv to take a “decisive but correct step”.

“When the state is dissatisfied with something, the first level of reaction is to express a protest. The second level of reaction is to recall your ambassador for consultations,” Kuleba said.

According to Kuleba, the Georgian authorities “really want (Saakashvili) dead” because of personal hatred and revenge.

In his nightly video message, Zelensky called on the Georgian authorities to allow Mikheil Saakashvili to come to Kyiv for treatment, Reuters reports.