According to Daria Samodurova, the lawyer of prisoner of conscience and Russian activist Artem Gribul, her client was verbally abused by a prison officer and threatened with placement in solitary confinement and the fabrication of a new criminal case.

According to Samodurova, the incident began with a dispute between a prison officer, reportedly identified as “Makho,” and Gribul’s cellmate. Following the altercation, the officer transferred the inmate to solitary confinement and instructed Artem Gribul and other inmates in the cell to collect the prisoner’s belongings. The lawyer states that after Gribul refused to do so, the officer verbally insulted him and threatened to place him in solitary confinement. According to Samodurova, other prison staff later attempted to de-escalate the situation.Artem Gribul was arrested together with his partner, Anastasia Zinovkina, on 17 December 2024. The prosecution accused them of the acquisition and possession of a particularly large quantity of narcotic substances. On 12 September 2025, Judge Nino Galustashvili of the Tbilisi City Court sentenced both individuals to eight years and six months’ imprisonment. Gribul and Zinovkina deny the charges and state that they were detained in connection with their participation in pro-European protests in Georgia. Both are Russian citizens who had been residing temporarily in Georgia and had taken part in pro-European demonstrations during the months they lived in Tbilisi.