Brittney Griner faces bleak life in Russian penal colony - Reuters.com

LONDON, Nov 3, (Reuters) - Tedious manual work, mediocre hygiene and deficiency of entree to aesculapian attraction - specified are the conditions awaiting U.S. hoops prima Brittney Griner successful a Russian penal colony aft she mislaid her entreaty past week against a nine-year cause sentence.

It's a satellite acquainted to Maria Alyokhina, a subordinate of feminist creation ensemble Pussy Riot who spent astir 2 years arsenic an inmate for her portion successful a 2012 punk protestation successful a Moscow cathedral against President Vladimir Putin.

The archetypal happening to understand, Alyokhina said successful an interview, is that a penal colony is nary mean prison.

"This is not a gathering with cells. This looks similar a unusual village, similar a Gulag labour camp," she said, referring to the immense penal web established by Soviet dictator Josef Stalin to isolate and crush inmates.

"It really is simply a labour campy due to the fact that by instrumentality each the prisoners should work. The rather cynical happening astir this enactment is that prisoners usually sew constabulary uniforms and uniforms for the Russian army, astir without salary."

The colony was divided betwixt a mill country wherever the prisoners made garments and gloves and a "living zone" wherever Alyokhina said 80 women lived successful 1 country with conscionable 3 toilets and nary blistery water.

Griner, a two-time Olympic golden medallist, could soon beryllium transferred to a colony successful the lack of a further entreaty oregon an statement betwixt Washington and Moscow to swap her for a Russian arms trader jailed successful the United States - a anticipation that was floated months agone but has yet to materialise.

HARSH RULES

In a Pussy Riot amusement that has toured the satellite and is present playing successful Britain, Alyokhina relives the memories of her clip arsenic an inmate - snowy situation yards, plank-like beds, agelong spells successful solitary confinement and punishment for insignificant infringements specified arsenic an unbuttoned overgarment oregon poorly attached nametag.

She was perpetually being videoed by situation guards "because I americium a 'famous provocateur'," she added.

Russia's situation work did not reply to a petition for remark for this article.

A much caller penal colony detainee, Yelena, described a akin authorities to that experienced by Alyokhina a decennary ago.

Yelena, 34, served 8 years successful a Siberian colony aft being convicted for possession of drugs. She said she was paid astir 1,000 roubles ($16) a period for toiling 10-12 hours a time successful a sewing workshop.

"Girls with a strong, diversion physique are often fixed overmuch heavier jobs. For example, they load sacks of flour for a situation bakery oregon unload mountains of coal," she said.

Prisoners could look punishment for inexplicable "offences" specified arsenic placing a wristwatch connected a bedside table. The eventual authorisation was solitary confinement, known arsenic "the Vatican".

"Just arsenic the Vatican is simply a authorities wrong a state, solitary confinement is simply a situation wrong a prison," Yelena said.

A gynaecologist paid a monthly sojourn to her colony, wherever much than 800 women were imprisoned.

"You bash the math, what are the chances of being the 1 to get done to a doctor? Practically zero," she said.

LANGUAGE BARRIER

For a foreigner with small oregon nary Russian, it's harder to navigate the strategy and woody with the isolation.

The member of Paul Whelan, a erstwhile U.S. Marine serving 16 years successful a Russian penal colony connected espionage charges that helium denies, said helium is granted a 15-minute telephone telephone each time to his parents, cannot telephone different household members oregon friends, and has nary entree to email oregon the internet.

David Whelan said his member indispensable enactment astatine slightest 8 hours a day, six days a week, connected menial tasks similar making buttonholes, which has caused him repetitive strain injury.

Inmates slumber successful barrack-like buildings and entree to galore necessities, including medicine, depends connected paying bribes to situation guards, helium said. Conditions tin beryllium heavy connected the whims of guards, the warden oregon elder inmates.

Paul seems to usage his subject grooming "to get done conscionable time to day, to fig retired what battles to combat and which battles not to fight", David Whelan said.

"His telephone calls adjacent to our parents are recorded. His letters were each translated earlier they went out. So you cognize that everything you bash is being watched and you truly person nary consciousness of individuality."

Alyokhina said receiving cards and letters from the extracurricular satellite offered a uncommon ray of hope, and she urged radical to enactment Griner that way.

She said they should usage a instrumentality translation and nonstop the substance successful some English and Russian to get it much easy past the situation censor.

"Do not permission idiosyncratic unsocial with this system," she said. "It's wholly inhuman, it's a Gulag, and erstwhile you consciousness yourself unsocial there, it's overmuch easier to springiness up."

Reporting by Mark Trevelyan successful London, Filipp Lebedev successful Tbilisi and Simon Lewis successful Washington; further reporting by Caleb Davis and Humeyra Pamuk Editing by Gareth Jones

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