Day: November 3, 2025
Supporters of Anastasia Zinovkina, who is serving an 8.5-year sentence in Georgia after being convicted on drug charges that have been linked to her activism, have called for her hospitalization amid reports of her deteriorating health and mistreatment in prison.
Concerns mounted after Alyona Zaitseva (also known as Bachia), an activist in contact with Zinovkina, said on October 30 that the detainee described in a phone call being “humiliated and tortured by prison staff.” Zinovkina is currently held at the Women’s Penitentiary Facility No. 5 in Rustavi.
According to Zaitseva’s October 30 Facebook post, Zinovkina, who has been suffering from a spinal condition, “is regularly given painkillers but receives no real treatment.” The detainee was reportedly denied an orthopedic mattress and pillow, and her condition worsened on October 29.
“In the morning, a doctor gave her an injection. At 12:30, her lower back seized up – she couldn’t stand or move. She screamed for help for eight hours, but no one came,” Zaitseva wrote.
Zaitseva said that the prison guards did not provide any help either, and “at 9 p.m., a nurse entered, did not help her up, threw a diaper at her, and left. [Zinovkina] tried to put it on, she fell to the floor and lay there until midnight.” According to the activist, “at midnight, they came into her cell and lifted her off the floor and put her in bed,” while the next morning, “the same doctor came to her and said that she needed to see a neurologist,” but could only offer a stronger painkiller, which required approval from a psychiatrist.
The report fueled worries about Zinovkina’s condition, with her partner Artem Gribul, who is serving a similar sentence, launching a hunger strike demanding that the prison staff responsible for her “inhuman treatment” be identified and punished. On November 3, supporters gathered at the Public Defender’s Office, urging authorities to transfer her to a hospital and supply her with essential orthopedic items.
Responding to the concerns on November 3, Georgia’s Public Defender’s Office said its representatives last visited Zinovkina on October 31 and that the office is “studying” the issue of medical care provided to the detainee.
“At this stage, the Public Defender continues to monitor the inmate’s health condition with the involvement of a highly qualified doctor employed by the Office,” the statement said, adding, however, that it is not within the Office’s mandate “to determine the placement of a defendant/convict, including their transfer to a medical facility.”
Zinovkina, 31, and Gribul, 25, a Russian couple, were arrested in December 2024, during the initial weeks of the non-stop pro-EU protests, on charges of illegally purchasing and possessing a large quantity of drugs. In September, both were sentenced to 8.5 years in prison. Their case is among a series of drug-related trials that have been linked to the participation in protests, with the defense citing a lack of impartial evidence, including the absence of footage from their personal searches.
Other women detainees have similarly reported deteriorating health and a lack of proper medical care in prison, including activist and teacher Nino Datashvili, who was recently released on bail amid a worsening spinal condition, and journalist Mzia Amaghlobeli, who is serving a two-year sentence and has experienced rapid vision loss while in custody.
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