Ukraine has called for the immediate release of Mikheil Saakashvili, after the imprisoned former president of Georgia appeared terribly emaciated during his first public appearance since February.

Speaking from hospital in a trial conducted via video link,  Saakashvili reaffirmed his innocence  and urged the Georgian government to permit him to engage in open debates, emphasising the importance of allowing the people to determine the truth and make their own judgments.    

“Give me the opportunity to participate openly in the debate and let the people decide whether you are right or me,”  he said. “If you want, put an iron bracelet on me so that I can't escape. Why are you afraid to openly enter into a debate with Saakashvili?”

Saakashvili's serious decline in health led Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to call for his immediate release. Zelenskiy urged the Georgian authorities to transfer Saakashvili to Ukraine for essential treatment and care, emphasising the sanctity of life as a fundamental European value.

“Right now, Russia is killing Ukrainian citizen Mykhailo Saakashvili at the hands of the Georgian government” he said in a statement. “We have repeatedly called on official Tbilisi to stop this insult and agree on Saakashvili's return to Ukraine. Our partners, in coordination with Ukraine, also offered various rescue options”.

Zelenskiy instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to summon the Georgian ambassador and express a strong protest. The president also requested that the ambassador leave Ukraine within 48 hours for consultations.

Saakashvili, who served as Georgia's president from 2004 to 2013, currently serves a six-year prison sentence for abuse of power—an allegation he and his supporters deem politically motivated. Additionally, he is under trial for separate charges related to the dispersal of an anti government rally in 2007 and illegal border crossing when he secretly returned to the country in 2021.

Concerns about Saakashvili's declining health have been raised by his family members, lawyers, and the European Union. Since his arrest in 2021, his supporters and opposition activists have organised numerous mass rallies, demanding his immediate release.

Saakashvili's medical team say that his health has seriously worsened since his imprisonment in October 2021, exacerbated by his repeated hunger strikes in protest against his incarceration. The former president, 55, has reportedly lost some 40kg and now weighs around 60kg.

The European Union has also expressed apprehension about Saakashvili's deteriorating health. The European Court of Human Rights, however, denied Saakashvili’s request to transfer him to Warsaw for medical treatment on a temporary basis.