Lawyers Claim Violations in Gribul and Zinovkina Case

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In their closing remarks, the lawyers for Russians Artem Gribul and Anastasia Zinovkina stated that their case lacked a number of pieces of evidence, and records from the search of the apartment recorded the presence of an unknown person in it, who was not mentioned in the protocol.

As "Kavkazsky Uzel" wrote, Russian citizens Artem Gribul and Anastasia Zinovkina, who participated in protests in Tbilisi, were arrested on charges of drug trafficking. They claim that evidence was planted on them, and that security forces resorted to threats. At a hearing in April, during the interrogation of a police officer, Gribul held up a piece of paper with the inscription: "He planted drugs in my pockets." Zinovkina suffers from spinal and vision problems, but does not receive medical care. Georgian border guards refused to let Anastasia's mother into the country; the woman filed a complaint.

At the court hearing in the case of Anastasia Zinovkina and Artem Gribul, the lawyer said that during the search in their apartment there was another person who was not listed in the protocols, and who was not mentioned by the witnesses during interrogations, the Tbilisi life telegram channel reported on September 1.

According to the search protocol, police officers Mirza Japaridze, Giorgi Imerlishvili, Zurab Turiashvili and Davit Akhaladze, as well as the owner of the apartment Eka Gogisvanidze, were in the apartment. At some point in the video, you can see Imerlishvili and Turiashvili searching the apartment, Japaridze filling out a report, Akhaladze filming the video, and Gogisvanidze watching the search. And suddenly the bathroom door opens from the inside. At the same time, Akhaladze moves the camera so that it is not visible who came out of the bathroom.

This, according to the defense, confirms the fact that drugs could have been planted in the apartment in such a way that it was not reflected in the video.

In his closing speech, Shota Tutberidze's lawyer noted that for the first time in his practice, he is participating in a case where the police officer who participated in the arrest is the accused. We are talking about Irakli Mukhatgverdeli. "True, in his case the court did not see any particularly serious violations in firing a weapon in a public place while intoxicated from an operational vehicle, however, as you can see, this is how the Georgian Themis balances the high standards shown towards prisoners of conscience, and in the end it turns out to be "normal" somewhere in the middle," he said.

Mukhatgverdeli was arrested in May and is still an accused. He was released on bail of 10 thousand lari. It was Mukhatgverdeli who Zinovkina accused of threatening to rape and murder.

The lawyer also said that there is a number of pieces of evidence missing from the case. In particular, there is no testimony from eyewitnesses of the detention of Gribul and Zinovkina, there is no video recording of the search of the apartment from the moment of entry until the moment the drugs were found, there is no testimony from independent witnesses.

On September 12, the judge will hear the final statement of the accused and will have to make a decision verdict.

"Caucasian Knot" published a report "The Main Thing About the Persecution of Protest Participants in Georgia". "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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