What awaits Brittney Griner in Russian penal colony?

US hoops subordinate Brittney Griner has reportedly been sent to a Russian penal colony successful a distant portion south-east of Moscow to service a nine-year jailhouse word for amerciable cause possession. She joins tens of thousands of Russian women down bars - and no-one knows however overmuch of it she volition serve, arsenic the US is keen to organise a prisoner-swap to merchandise her.

Until that happens, her beingness wrong a Russian jailhouse volition surely not beryllium easy, and she volition apt endure conditions arsenic regular arsenic immoderate different inmate.

Griner mislaid her entreaty against her cause condemnation successful aboriginal November and was past moved retired of a Moscow detention centre to a penal colony. But it is lone present that we person an thought wherever she is. A root has told Reuters quality bureau she is being held astatine the IK-2 women's penal colony successful the distant colony of Yavas successful Mordovia, 500km (310 miles) south-east of the capital.

The operation penal colony revives memories of the deadly Gulag of the Soviet era, but successful this lawsuit it simply refers to a situation - with respective rows of low-rise buildings lodging communal barracks for inmates and abstracted structures lodging workshops for inmates.

For days no-one, including her lawyers, knew wherever Griner had been sent. For Russia this is normal, and erstwhile inmates' families cannot spend a bully lawyer it tin sometimes instrumentality weeks for a missive to get from the jail.

Her jailhouse is 1 of Russia's regular situation colonies, wherever astir of 453,000 inmates are held.

Repeat offenders oregon those with sentences for sedate crimes are sent to strict-regime oregon special-regime colonies. The quality lies successful the fig of visits allowed by relatives, the frequence of permitted parcels with nutrient oregon covering and the severity of punishments for breaking regulations.

Some sedate crimes are punishable with clip successful cells and nary entree to unfastened aerial astatine all. On the different extremity of the penitentiary standard are "colonies-settlements" for those committing lesser crimes. Those are much relaxed and adjacent let days distant from the barracks.

Women marque up astir 5% of Russia's situation population, truthful determination are acold less correctional facilities for women which means relatives who privation to sojourn person to question further.

Griner's condemnation volition beryllium of nary astonishment to anyone there: 13.5% of each sentences successful 2021 were handed down for possession, smuggling oregon dealing illicit drugs. For women that fig rises to 42%, though not each were custodial.

Russian constabulary person for years been accused of beefing up transgression statistic by planting drugs oregon pressuring detainees into confessions. This was not Griner's case: she admitted to having vape cartridges with cannabis lipid successful her baggage connected her instrumentality to Russia successful February to play nine hoops during the US off-season.

She whitethorn beryllium a women's NBA champion and Olympic golden medallist, but she does not talk Russian and determination are nary correctional facilities for foreigners. There are, however, 20 prisons that location assorted instrumentality enforcement employees who interruption the law, truthful they don't premix perchance with the criminals they helped enactment away.

For antheral prisoners, unit is an ever-present threat, either from different inmates oregon staff. Video recordings of torture, rape and humiliation emerged past year, providing hard grounds of an organised strategy of intimidation, extortion and extracting confessions, carried retired by inmates egged connected by situation authorities.

That benignant of unit does not instrumentality spot successful women's prisons, but Olga Podoplelova of the NGO "Russia down Bars" says beingness for inmates is not easy: "There's nary established informal jailhouse hierarchy successful women's jails, but medication controls everything and there's plentifulness of ways of turning an inmate's beingness into hell."

Under Russian law, inmates person to work. Most do, arsenic refusing usually means trouble, but the highest caste of convicts successful the antheral transgression hierarchy - known arsenic "blatnye" - garbage connected principle.

The situation authorities involves meagre wage for conditions that galore observers telephone enslaved labour.

"Inmates enactment from 12 to 16 hours a time with luncheon and toilet breaks," says Ms Podoplelova. "Daily quotas are acceptable precise high, but 1 authoritative wage is usually shared by respective inmates. As a result, inmate workers lone get a wage of respective 100 roubles a month."

That is the equivalent of conscionable a fewer dollars oregon pounds a period - a fraction of what adjacent the poorest Russians get paid for the maximum 40-hour moving week nether Russian law.

While men successful penal colonies often enactment with wood processing oregon welding, pistillate inmates are invariably employed astatine sewing clothes, mostly uniforms for the situation service, the service oregon the police.

Equipment is aged and workplaces poorly equipped, truthful Griner, who is 2.06m (6ft 9in) tall, volition person to crouch astatine the sewing machine.

Attempts to combat for inmate workers' rights are rare.

Two women who did item the contented with a hunger onslaught were Maria Alekhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, jailed for 2 years aft their Pussy Riot radical staged a punk show successful a Moscow cathedral successful 2012.

Alekhina served her clip successful 2 regular prisons and says traditions acceptable backmost successful the days of Joseph Stalin's Gulag strategy are good alive. "All of that [labour] is without mean food, without mean aesculapian strategy and without immoderate quality rights defence," she told Reuters quality bureau recently.

Tolokonnikova served portion of her condemnation successful different women's penal colony conscionable extracurricular Yavas.

Russia's highest-profile captive is absorption person Alexei Navalny, and helium excessively has taken up the combat for amended jailhouse conditions and pay.

Currently serving a nine-year word successful a strict-regime colony 250km (155 miles) eastbound of Moscow, helium was moved during the summertime to the IK-6 penal colony which his lawyer has described arsenic a "monstrous place". Before helium was transferred to IK-6 helium was jailed successful Pokrov, person to the capital.

Navalny has proved an irritant for the situation system. He excessively was made to sew covering but managed to person the authorities to regenerate aged abbreviated four-legged stools with due swivel chairs for him and a fewer co-workers.

In August helium announced the instauration of an inmate workers' commercialized national but truthful acold nary different inmate has dared to join. He has since been fixed repeated spells successful solitary confinement, for transgressions specified arsenic wearing his robe unbuttoned, oregon for not keeping his hands down his backmost portion walking past a warden.

His conditions were further tightened successful November, erstwhile his allies said helium was moved to a "covered compartment block", without entree to unfastened air. On his Telegram messaging relationship helium described his compartment arsenic "very small... similar the 1 successful solitary confinement".

The situation has made communicating with his defence lawyers hard. A solid surface that separated them was replaced with an opaque movie and past they were barred from showing him documents. "I americium enactment successful a 1m x 1m room, facing a partition of integrative with quality contours down it," helium complained.

Brittney Griner is precise improbable to look this benignant of pressure. But determination is small accidental her overseas passport and sporting fame volition bargain her immoderate alleviation from conditions endured by mean inmates.

Another inmate whom US officials are anxious to spot released is ex-marine Paul Whelan, jailed successful 2020 for alleged spying. Like Navalny helium has faced solitary confinement, and similar Griner helium is being held successful a penal colony successful Mordovia, conscionable a abbreviated thrust away.