WNBA star Britney Griner was taken penal colony In the Mordovia region of Russia, Reuters report Thursday.
Russian authorities have not provided an update on her whereabouts for two weeks since she was transferred from a detention center near Moscow earlier this month. But a source familiar with the case told Reuters news agency that Griner had been officially transferred to IK-2, a women’s prison in Yavas, where she would serve the remainder of her sentence, 300 miles southeast of Moscow. Told.
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“We are aware of reports of her whereabouts and are in frequent contact with Griner’s legal team,” a State Department spokesperson told Reuters. “However, the Russian Federation has not yet provided official notification of such a move of a US citizen. I keep asking.”
Russia’s penal colonies are said to resemble medieval chambers, with long hours of physical work such as sewing, substantive access to medical care and substandard hygiene, according to Reuters. Not much is known about Javas Penal Colony, but the BBC To tell It doesn’t have a good reputation. Ex-convict Irina Noskova, who worked as a seamstress in the colony, told Russia’s New Times in 2013 that prisoners would be beaten if they didn’t work fast enough.
The Mordovian colony of Griner is also said to be in the same area where fellow American Paul Whelan is serving a 16-year sentence on espionage charges. The Biden administration has previously proposed a prisoner exchange. A Russian arms dealer for the safe return of Whelan and Griner to the American mainland.
The BBC said women prisoners generally did not receive as severe punishment as men, but Olga Podopplelova of the NGO Russia Behind Bars said prisoners were still forced to work 12 to 16 hours a day. Said it was wanted. Lunch break and restroom break.
“Daily quotas are set very high, but one official salary is usually split among multiple inmates,” she says. “As a result, prisoners receive only a few hundred rubles a month, or a few dollars a month.
WNBA stars are unjustly detained By August, a Russian court had convicted Griner of drug charges and sentenced him to nine years in prison. did.she Appeal dismissed Both her legal team and U.S. authorities were informed that her transfer process began days after the fact.
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