Prosecutor’s Office refused to grant Mikheil Saakashvili a victim’s status because of the “lack of grounds”.

"On November 9, 2021, the State Inspector’s Service launched an investigation into allegations of ill-treatment of Mikheil Saakashvili at the N18 Medical Penitentiary, as well as at the G18 Military Hospital - in particular, on the facts of possible physical and verbal abuse, intentional verbal aggression during his transfer to Gori.

On December 9 and 30, 2021, the State Inspector’s Investigative Service informed former president’s lawyers about the ongoing investigation.

On November 29, 2021, the prosecutor issued an instruction on the case to conduct investigative and procedural actions, some of which have not yet been performed by the State Inspector’s Service.

A commission forensic medical examination of the case is scheduled to determine to what extent M. Saakashvili was provided with adequate medical care during his detention; Psychological examination is scheduled; Habitoscopic, videooscopic and information-technological examinations are assigned to the audio-video recordings requested in the case.

Before the written instructions of the Prosecutor, including the conclusion of the relevant expertise and the verification of certain circumstances relevant to the investigation, the prosecution is deprived of the opportunity to make any concluding decision in the case, including in terms of recognizing a person as a victim.

In view of the above, the request of the defence to recognize M. Saakashvili as a victim was not approved due to a lack of grounds.

Prosecutor’s Office expresses its readiness to ensure that Mikheil Saakashvili’s lawyers are given full access to the criminal case materials”, - reads the statement.