American basketball star Brittney Griner was moved last week from the Moscow detention center to a penalty colony to serve her sentence, announced the player’s lawyers.
The two-time Olympic gold medalist was arrested on February 17, a week before Moscow sent troops to Ukraine, at the Moscow International Airport, after her luggage was found for cannabis oil cigarettes banned in Russia. On August 4, she was sentenced to nine years imprisonment in a criminal colony for the possession and smuggling of drugs. Brittney Griner pleaded guilty but said she had brought the substance forbidden in Russia by mistake and did not want to break the law.
Neither the exact location of Brittney Griner nor the final destination is known, according to a statement by a lawyer’s team. In accordance with Russian legal procedures, the lawyers and the US Embassy must be notified upon her final arrival. Getting a notification will take up to two weeks.
The White House said the US President Joe Biden had ordered his administration to “persuade her Russian abductors to improve their attitude”, as well as the conditions under which she would be forced to serve her sentence. At the end of July, Washington offered a deal to exchange prisoners with Russia to ensure the release of Brittney Griner and former US Marines Paul Whelan, but Moscow has not yet given a positive response to the proposal. In 2020, Paul Whelan was sentenced to 16 years of imprisonment for espionage and sent to prison. He denies that he has been doing this kind of activity.
“Despite the lack of well-intentioned negotiations by the Russians, the US government continues to keep track of what is happening with this proposal and to offer alternative ways to progress with the Russians on all available channels”, said the White House Press Secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre.
The deterioration of relations between Russia and the West complicated the negotiations on the release of Brittney Griner.
“Our main concern continues to be Brittney Griner’s health and well-being”, said her manager Lindsay Kagawa Colas. “As we go through this rather difficult phase, in which we do not know where exactly it is BG and how it is doing, we ask the public to continue writing letters and express its love and care for it”, added she, using the initials of the American basketball player.
Joe Biden’s adviser to national security Jake Sullivan described the conditions to which Brittney Griner was subjected to as “unbearable” and the trial against her as another litigation.
