INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Georgia's jailed ex-president, Mikheil Saakashvili, has been "poisoned" in custody by heavy metals and risks dying without proper
treatment, according to a medical report distributed on Monday by his legal team.The 54-year-old was transferred to the hospital last year
after a hunger strike that he maintained for 50 days to protest at his jailing, which rights groups have denounced as politically
motivated.In a report distributed by Saakashvili's legal team, United States -based toxicologist David Smith said "testing has revealed
the presence of heavy metals" in Saakashvili's body and the pathological symptoms he displays "are the result of heavy metal
poisoning.""To a reasonable degree of medical certainty" the toxic agents, including mercury and arsenic, were introduced after Saakashvili
was jailed, Smith said.The authors of the report, dated Nov
28, also said Saakashvili was being administered damaging medication without proper oversight.The "increased risk of mortality is imminent"
without adequate treatment, "which appears to have been denied or unavailable" in Georgia, Smith added.Georgian authorities have insisted
had examined Saakashvili, told AFP on Monday he has been "diagnosed with brain damage and neuro-intoxication.""He is suffering from a number
of serious illnesses, which are incompatible with his confinement, according to Georgian law."Tengiz Tsuladze, a doctor from a council of
medics set up by Georgia's rights ombudsperson, said Saakashvili "has lost more than 40 kilograms (88 pounds) since his
detention.""Georgia's medical system has apparently exhausted all the available means for Saakashvili's treatment," he told the
independent Formula TV station on Sunday.Saakashvili, the founder of Georgia's main opposition force and president of the small Caucasian
pro-Western reformer was imprisoned in October 2021, days after secretly returning from exile in Ukraine.He has denounced his conviction as
politically motivated.In October, the Council of Europe rights watchdog called for the "release of political prisoners opposed to (Russian
President Vladimir) Putin in the Russian Federation and other countries, including Mikheil Saakashvili."Amnesty International has branded
his treatment as "apparent political revenge."
