Anastasia Zinovkina's condition worsened in prison.

During her attacks, Anastasia Zinovkina, a prisoner in Georgia, is unable to get out of bed; the fingers of her right hand and toe have become paralyzed, her fiancé, Artem Gribul, reported. He expressed hope that the appellate court will address the inconsistencies in the testimony of security officials in the trial court's verdict, which sentenced them to 8.5 years in prison.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot", Russian citizens Artem Gribul and Anastasia Zinovkina, who participated in protests in Tbilisi, were arrested in December 2024 on drug trafficking charges. They claim that evidence was planted against them, and that security officials resorted to threats. On September 12, a Tbilisi court sentenced both to 8.5 years in prison. Anton Chechin, a protester, received the same sentence on a similar charge. Zinovkina said that on October 29, she received no assistance from prison staff for eight hours, although she could not move due to back pain, and the doctor could only offer her "a stronger painkiller that the psychiatrist has." Zinovkina is provided with medical care in prison and does not require inpatient treatment, the Georgian Penitentiary Service stated in response to activists' demands for medical care. In November, the Court of Appeals began reviewing the complaints of the Russians.

Artem Gribul reported on the deterioration of Anastasia Zinovkina's condition in a letter.

"They're destroying her health in prison. Anastasia has been brought to such a state that during her attacks she can't get out of bed; the fingers of her right hand and toe have been amputated," Gribul wrote in a letter published by the Pirveli TV channel. He also claims that he and Anastasia are in prison, while the security officer who planted the drugs is living happily and freely," Gribul wrote.

He noted that there is hope for a review of the verdict. "We will do everything in our power in court and hope for your support both inside and outside the courtroom. We have a strong position: the 'police officers' and 'neutral witnesses' were confused, contradicted each other and themselves in their testimony, and were caught falsifying evidence and telling outright lies. "All of this has already become public knowledge, and we will definitely win!" Gribul writes.

In another letter from Artem, posted on the Telegram channel "Artem Gribul in Prison," he says they have "good lawyers" whom they managed to hire after collecting donations. "I'm glad we were able to pay them. That should be enough for the appeal, but what will happen after that is still unclear to me. "Perhaps something needs to be said about the appeal. On the one hand, it's not all that bad: the verdict is so poorly written that it's impossible to read without laughing, as the "police officers" were seriously "busted" in several places and essentially proved their guilt in several crimes. But on the other hand, it's unclear how much the appellate court will care. We'll see!" writes Gribul.

As a reminder, on November 3, Georgian human rights organizations held a briefing where they stated that Chechin, Zinovkina, and Gribul were victims of a politicized justice system. According to the NGOs, any objective court would have released them right there in the courtroom. The human rights activists noted that the judges relied almost exclusively on the testimony of police officers and interpreters, whose objectivity raises serious questions. The bureau that hired the translators had financial ties to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the translators themselves were acquainted with the police witnesses, the publication states.