TBILISI, July 17 – Jailed Georgian opposition politician Murtaz Zodelava was transferred to Vivamedi clinic this week after health complaints, triggering a public dispute over whether he had suffered a stroke in prison.
Zodelava is a former prosecutor general and an opposition politician convicted in the October 4 case. He is serving a seven-year sentence for attempted seizure and blocking of strategic or special-importance facilities by a group, according to Interpressnews.
The health alarm began Friday afternoon, when former president Mikheil Saakashvili wrote on social media that Zodelava had been urgently moved to Vivamedi in serious condition. Saakashvili claimed that Zodelava had suffered two strokes in a cell next to him.
Vivamedi clinical director Zurab Chkhaidze later told Interpressnews that Zodelava had been admitted three days earlier with dizziness. He said the patient was stable, under a neurologist’s supervision and had undergone all necessary tests. Chkhaidze said there was no talk of a stroke.
Georgia’s Special Penitentiary Service also denied that Zodelava had suffered a stroke. It said he was moved to Vivamedi for diagnosis after health complaints, and that tests had ruled out any acute pathological process. The agency said Zodelava had asked to return to prison, but was kept at the clinic for further observation.
Zodelava’s wife, Maia Mumladze, gave a more cautious account. She told Interpressnews that a stroke had not been confirmed at this stage. She said doctors had found “some focus,” but there was no active focus now, and doctors could not say with certainty when any previous incident may have happened. She said Zodelava’s condition was satisfactory and that he would probably be discharged soon.
Later Friday evening, Mumladze wrote on social media that she had visited Zodelava at Vivamedi, where he was undergoing tests and remained under constant medical supervision. She said his condition was satisfactory.
Nika Gvaramia, one of the leaders of the Coalition for Change, criticized the politicization of Zodelava’s health. He said he had visited Zodelava at Vivamedi and that the family would have made a statement if one was needed. Gvaramia wrote that Zodelava himself was strongly opposed to attaching a political angle to his medical condition without his consent.
UNM leader Irakli Pavlenishvili later said that if anyone had the moral right to respond to Saakashvili’s post, it was Zodelava’s family. He added that Saakashvili may have wanted the public to know about Zodelava’s condition and his record as a public servant.
