Brittney Griner Reportedly Adjusting To Life at Penal Colony
(ConservativeHub.com) – WNBA star Brittney Griner found herself behind bars in Russia after authorities discovered cannabis vape cartridges in her luggage at the Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow. She entered the country to play basketball but ended up with a drug possession conviction and a nine-year sentence. After losing her appeal in October, the 6-foot-9-inch center has moved into a Mordovia penal colony to serve her time.
Her attorneys announced on November 17 that Griner had left the detention center she had been in since February to move to the prison. According to AP News, they also revealed they had visited her, noting she is “as well as could be expected” despite the situation.
The WNBA star Griner has been relocated to a penal colony in Mordovia, about 210 miles east of Moscow. https://t.co/QmTcvuHtXQ
— HuffPost (@HuffPost) November 18, 2022
Her new quarters are in the notorious Russian prison system, plagued with rumors of beatings and a lack of nutritious food or proper medical care. While men may have it worse, it reportedly isn’t a piece of cake for women. BBC reported Olga Romanova from Russia Behind Bars, an organization investigating the country’s prisons, revealed prisoners have to work for pennies per day in harsh conditions. She said women generally sew in cramped quarters using outdated machines for up to 16 hours.
Washington understands the grim situation and has been working to bring the WNBA star home. An Associated Press report on July 27 revealed Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States offered a prisoner swap deal to Moscow. The White House hoped to get Griner and another American detainee, Paul Whelan, in exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. But the deal has yet to materialize.
President Biden stated plans during a press conference on November 9 to continue negotiating on the basketball player’s behalf. He expressed optimism about the chances of getting her back to the US. But Yury Ushakov, a Kremlin aide, remarked on October 16 that Griner’s release is not a high priority for the Russians, according to Russian News Agency TASS.
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