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Brittney Griner, the WNBA prima who has been detained successful Russia since February, is being moved to a Russian penal colony — a benignant of situation installation known for its brutal surviving conditions — her ineligible squad said Wednesday.
The 32-year-old was arrested astatine the Sheremetyevo International Airport successful Moscow connected Feb. 17 and accused of entering Russia with vape cartridges containing cannabis oil, which is amerciable successful Russia. She pleaded blameworthy to carrying the cartridges, saying it was an “honest mistake.” She was sentenced to 9½ years successful situation successful August, and a justice rejected her appeal precocious past month.
“We bash not person immoderate accusation connected her nonstop existent determination oregon her last destination,” her attorneys Maria Blagovolina and Alexander Boykov said successful a statement.
“In accordance with the modular Russian process the attorneys, arsenic good arsenic the U.S. Embassy, should beryllium notified upon her accomplishment astatine her destination,” a process they said usually takes up to 2 weeks.
Russia has 1 of the highest rates of incarceration successful Europe, with astir 520,000 inmates held successful prisons passim the country, according to the Associated Press. Most of its facilities are known arsenic penal colonies due to the fact that inmates are required to transportation retired labour during their sentences.
The camps stock galore similarities with the gulags oregon forced-labor camps utilized during the Soviet Union, and media investigations person highlighted alleged abuses against prisoners successful penal colonies.
Russian absorption person Alexei Navalny, who was jailed aft recovering from a poisoning attack, described the notorious Penal Colony No. 2, wherever helium was initially sent, arsenic “our affable attraction camp.” He accused guards of denying him due aesculapian attraction oregon the accidental to slumber and described dehumanizing surveillance.
The White House condemned the determination to determination Griner into a penal colony, with property caput Karine Jean-Pierre saying that “every infinitesimal that Brittney Griner indispensable endure wrongful detention successful Russia is simply a infinitesimal excessively long.”
“As the Administration continues to enactment tirelessly to unafraid her release, the President has directed the Administration to prevail connected her Russian captors to amended her attraction and the conditions she whitethorn beryllium forced to endure successful a penal colony,” she said successful a statement.
Jean-Pierre added that the U.S. authorities had made “a important connection to resoluteness the existent unacceptable and wrongful detentions of American citizens,” arsenic Washington seeks to negociate a diplomatic solution to escaped Griner and Paul Whelan, an American erstwhile information consultant serving a 16-year condemnation successful Russia.
Speaking connected Aug. 4, WNBA superstar Brittney Griner said she had nary volition of breaking Russian instrumentality aft a tiny magnitude of cannabis lipid was recovered successful her bags. (Video: The Washington Post)
But Russia blamed Washington connected Tuesday for the deficiency of progress, with Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova saying: “We person not seen immoderate tendency from the United States to resoluteness the circumstantial problems of people.”
In a Wednesday statement, Griner’s agent, Lindsay Colas, spoke of concerns implicit the hoops player’s wellness and well-being during “this precise hard signifier of not knowing precisely wherever BG is oregon however she is doing.”
“We are thankful for everyone’s support, and anticipation that arsenic we adjacent 9 months of detention, that BG and each wrongfully detained Americans volition beryllium shown mercy and returned location to their families for the holidays,” Colas added.
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