17:48, 12 September 2025

Zinovkina and Gribul were sentenced to long prison terms in Tbilisi

Russians Anastasia Zinovkina and Artem Gribul, arrested in Georgia in a drug case, were sentenced to 8.5 years in prison. After the verdict was announced, both announced that they would go on a hunger strike. Bailiffs threw activists present at the trial out of the Tbilisi City Court.

As "Kavkazsky Uzel" wrote, Russian citizens Artem Gribul and Anastasia Zinovkina, who participated in protests in Tbilisi, were arrested in December 2024 on charges of drug trafficking. They claim that evidence was planted on them, and that security forces resorted to threats. On September 2, a court in Tbilisi sentenced Russian citizen Anton Chechin, who was arrested on similar charges after also participating in protests, to 8 years and 6 months in prison.

According to security officials, packages of narcotics were found in the apartment where the activists lived. Gribul's father had previously told the "Caucasian Knot" that the case included a video recording of the search, and the operative would appear and then disappear from the frame. "There is a moment when operatives are recorded standing in the doorway, but the investigator disappears from the frame for four minutes. You can do anything in four minutes, plant any evidence," he said. Recordings from a search of an apartment in Tbilisi recorded the presence of an unknown person who was not mentioned in the protocol, the lawyer said in court on September 1.

A court in Tbilisi today announced the verdict on Russian citizens Anastasia Zinovkina and Artem Gribul, sentencing both to eight years and six months in prison, Paper Kartuli reports.

Judge Nino Galustashvili did not allow Anastasia Zinovkina to fully deliver her final statement. In her closing speech, Zinovkina appealed to her friends around the world to help Georgia and its civil society.

“I ask my friends to conduct investigations and find the names of all criminals, investigate the origin of their funds, find their property and make it public throughout the world (...) I ask you to search and collect databases of all cases of police violence, unfair arrests and any human rights violations in Sakartvelo. Communicate with the residents of the country at least remotely. Help the guys on Rustaveli with everything they ask for and do not ask for,” the Tbilisi_Life Telegram channel quotes her speech.

“I want to support other political prisoners. I want to greet and congratulate Giorgi Akhobadze, Nika Katsia, Tedo Abramov on their release. It was a wonderful moment when you were released, the whole prison rejoiced (...) I ask Georgian society, first of all, to help Anton Chechin. He has serious health problems. Please do not allow him to die,” Publika quotes a fragment of Zinovkina’s speech.

In December 2024, a court in Tbilisi remanded in custody resuscitation doctor Giorgi Akhobadze, who was detained after a protest and accused of drug possession. Akhobadze refused to admit guilt and stated that the drugs were planted on him by security forces. On August 6, the court found him not guilty and released him from custody, the prosecutor's office appealed the acquittal. On August 15, the court found Tedo Abramov not guilty and released, who was also accused of a drug crime in December and denied guilt. On September 3, Nika Katsiya, a participant in the pro-European protests, was also acquitted of drug possession in large quantities.

Zinovkina also announced that she was going on a hunger strike demanding the release of Artem Gribul and Anton Chechin. Gribul, who listed the violations in his case in his final statement, was also not allowed to finish his speech by the judge. When the convict was being led away by the guards, he shouted that he was going on a hunger strike together with Zinovkina.

Immediately after the end of the hearing, bailiffs began to forcibly expel people from the Tbilisi City Court building, according to a video recording by an eyewitness published by News.on.ge. One of the listeners in court, blogger Anton Rubin, said that he was pinned down in the vestibule and strangled, and traces of violence can be seen on his neck and arms.

"Caucasian Knot" published a report "The Main Thing About the Persecution of Protesters in Georgia". The Caucasian Knot collected materials about the parliamentary elections and the protests that followed them on the page "Elections in Georgia-2024".

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Translated automatically via Google translate from https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/415354