Prisoner of conscience Artem Gribul has addressed the public in an open letter, speaking about what he calls an unjust verdict that will force him and other prisoners of conscience from Russia to spend their entire youth behind bars. Gribul expressed hope for public support and eventual justice.

Hello,

On November 26, the appeal hearings in my case and in the case of Anastasia Zinovkina began. In September, Judge Galustashvili sentenced us to eight and a half years in prison—the same sentence given to Anton Chechin. This is a horrifying, life-destroying punishment, under which we are expected to spend our entire youth behind bars.

Such verdicts are typical of Putin’s or Lukashenko’s authoritarian regimes, which punish innocent people for dissent or participation in protests. For more than a year now, Boris Ivanov’s regime has joined this list.

Anyone could find themselves in our place—going to a store and never returning. Uniformed agents seize you, plant drugs or weapons, and the court blindly hands down a sentence.

Prison destroys your health. Anastasia has been left unable to get out of bed during attacks, and fingers on her right hand and foot have been removed. Meanwhile, the person who threatened her with rape on behalf of the state and planted drugs lives freely and even fires weapons in central Tbilisi for fun, without consequence.

This must never happen again. Every uniformed perpetrator and their accomplices should be behind bars. The regime that allows and covers up such crimes should not exist. Every prisoner of conscience must be freed.

This fight is worth pursuing to the end. In court, we will do everything possible, and we hope for your support both inside and outside the courtroom. Our position is strong: “police officers” and “neutral witnesses” contradicted themselves and each other, evidence was falsified, and lies were exposed. This is already public knowledge, and we will prevail.

Until the end!

Artem Gribul

Artem Gribul is a Russian citizen, data scientist, and activist currently imprisoned in Georgia. He became widely known for his involvement in protest movements in Tbilisi and the high-profile court proceedings that followed.

Gribul and his partner, Anastasia Zinovkina, were arrested in December 2024 in Tbilisi. They were charged with possession of a large quantity of the narcotic alpha-PVP.

In September 2025, each was sentenced to eight years and six months in prison.

Both were active participants in pro-European and anti-government demonstrations in Tbilisi, where they provided coffee and tea to participants.

The defendants, their lawyers, and multiple human rights organizations claim the drugs were planted by the police. They argue that the arrests were politically motivated and aimed at intimidating activists.

During the trial, the defendants repeatedly reported police pressure and mistreatment. At one hearing, Artem displayed a note reading, “They planted drugs in my pockets.” The prosecution did not present video evidence showing the disputed drugs being recovered.

Before his imprisonment, Gribul worked in the technology sector, focusing on programming and artificial intelligence.

While in prison, he has staged several hunger strikes, including dry hunger strikes, in protest.