Georgia's former president says he's dying in prison because of Putin, and calls on the US to save his life

Georgia's jailed opposition leader and ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili arrives in the defendant's box for an hearing at the city court of Tbilisi on November 29, 2021. Irakli Gedenidze/Getty Images

Georgia's ex-president, Mikheil Saakashvili, said he is dying in prison.

Saakashvili is asking the US and its allies to help save his life by applying international pressure.

He also warned that Georgia's government is "sliding toward the Kremlin."

Mikheil Saakashvili, the former president of Georgia, says that he is dying in a Georgian prison and blames Russian President Vladimir Putin for his situation — while accusing Georgia's ruling party of exhibiting "increasing solidarity with Russia."

In a new Politico op-ed that was received via the former world leader's US legal counsel, Saakashvili said he's imprisoned on politically motivated charges of abuse of power and that his health has "declined precipitously" during his detention.

"I am now dying," Saakashvili wrote. "I have been systematically tortured, physically and psychologically, and there is currently evidence of heavy metal poisoning in my body. I now suffer from a bewildering array of over 20 serious illnesses, all of which developed in confinement."

Saakashvili, who was Georgia's president when it fought a war against Russia in 2008, said that Putin "who once threatened to 'hang me by the balls' is, undoubtedly, ultimately responsible for my current predicament." He's claimed that Russian agents infiltrated Georgian security services and poisoned him.

A plea for the US and the international community to intervene

The ex-Georgian leader said he will die soon without "proper medical care outside of the country," while calling on the US and the international community to "do what they can to save my life by applying diplomatic pressure on the Georgian government."

Saakashvili also said sanctions should be imposed against Bidzina Ivanishvili, the billionaire and former prime minister of Georgia who founded the country's governing party, Georgian Dream. Ivanishvili, who made his fortune in Russia, has been accused by congressional lawmakers in Washington of being an ally of Putin's.

Saakashvili rose to power after leading the bloodless Rose Revolution in 2003, which pushed out the country's Soviet-era leadership. He was president of Georgia from 2004 to 2013, forging closer ties with the West during his tenure. But he left the country after his term ended and his party lost a 2012 parliamentary election to Georgian Dream.

Saakashvili ultimately went to Ukraine, where he became involved in the country's politics. Saakashvili was granted Ukrainian citizenship, giving up Georgian citizenship in the process, and was made governor of Odessa in 2015.

While he was in Ukraine, criminal charges were filed against Saakashvili in Georgia, and he was convicted in absentia in 2018. The former Georgian leader was arrested upon returning to his native country in October 2021.

In his Politico op-ed, Saakashvili described himself as a "political prisoner" who continues to "defend democracy against Putin and his allies."

Saakashvili warned that Georgia and other countries in the region "have continued sliding toward the Kremlin" amid Russia's ongoing and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

The Georgian and Russian embassies in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Insider.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine, some have also expressed concerns that Georgia could be Putin's next target.

Vladimir Ashurkov, a top aide to imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny, told Insider last April that it was "not off the table" for Putin to attack Georgia or other countries in the region such as Moldova.

Russian troops have occupied roughly 20% of Georgia's territory — the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia — since the two countries fought a war 15 years ago. But while Georgia has faced the consequences of Russian aggression in the recent past, the country's ruling party has refused to support sanctions against Moscow over the invasion of Ukraine.

Experts have warned that the Georgian Dream party is increasingly pushing Georgia into Russia's orbit, and that the country's government and people are sharply divided when it comes to forging closer ties with the West and issues like the war in Ukraine.

The Georgian government recently sparked a crisis and mass protests in the capital city of Tbilisi as it pushed for a controversial "foreign agent" law that drew comparisons to a Russian law that has been used by Moscow to crack down on dissent and stifle freedom of expression. Georgian lawmakers ended up scrapping the bill amid the backlash.

"The Georgian government is building an authoritarian state in Russia's image," Francis Fukuyama, one of the most influential political scientists in the US, and Nino Evgenidze, director of the Economic Policy Research Center in Tbilisi, warned in an op-ed published by Foreign Affairs on Thursday.

Fukuyama and Evgenidze went on to say that the treatment of Saakashvili is "another attempt by Georgian Dream to undermine the rule of law and thus hurt Georgia's chance of integrating with the West," urging the US and its allies to take action to "prevent Georgia from sliding further into Russia's camp."

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.

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