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Saakashvili to be examined by psychiatrist — doctor

Former Georgian President's relatives and friends reiterated that he was in a depressed state

TBILISI, December 11. /TASS/. Former Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili will be examined by a psychiatrist, Grigol Grigolia, a doctor on the board of doctors under the Georgian public defender, told reporters on Saturday

"News has broken out that Saakashvili is getting weak. He has difficulty standing and speaking. We have information that he is being administered large doses of psychotropic drugs. Therefore, it became necessary to hold a case conference visiting the ex-president in the Gori hospital. We will see what kind of medication he is taking. Our ombudsperson, Ms. Nino Lomjaria, added a psychiatrist to the group, because we have to do specific tests," Grigolia said after visiting the former president.

Saakashvili’s relatives and friends reiterated that he was in a depressed state. In addition, Mariam Jishkariani, head of the Empathy rehabilitation center, said that he had been administered large doses of psychotropic drugs.

The ex-president left Georgia in 2013. Later, four criminal cases were brought against him, and on two of them, he was sentenced to three and six years in jail in absentia.

Saakashvili arrived in Georgia shortly ahead of the first round of the country’s municipal elections in early October, when he was apprehended and put behind bars. On October 20, he was charged with illegal border crossing. The investigation alleges that he arrived in the country on September 28 in a truck delivering dairy products from Ukraine. In this case, Saakashvili faces up to five years in jail.

The former president went on a hunger strike in prison, as he considers himself a political prisoner. On November 20 he was transferred to the military hospital in Gori from the prison hospital on the outskirts of Tbilisi, where he was placed on November 8. Saakashvili is not on the hunger strike any longer, and is receiving treatment at the hospital.

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