An advocate for a Russian prison rights group has said that Brittney Griner’s American nationality will be a “disadvantage” in the already brutal penal colony system, while her sexuality will also make her a “menace” inside prison.
Griner – who has been in Russian custody since February on alleged cannabis oil finds – was transferred from a detention center to a penal colony on November 4, according to her legal team.
And while it’s unclear which penal colony the WNBA star was also transferred to, she faces the prospect of leaving the colony “as a different person,” according to Russia Behind Bars group Olga Romanova.
Speaking to Politico earlier this month — before news of Griner’s move to the colony broke — Romanova painted an utterly grim picture of the conditions the basketball player will endure.
Interestingly, she said that women’s colonies are considered more dangerous than men’s colonies in her industry because the former lack the “unspoken codes of conduct” and “unofficial brokers of power” of the latter.
Brittney Griner holds up a picture of her team as she was held in a jail cell in August this year
“Everyone is there for themselves. Everything is allowed – you can betray, you can abuse. There are no rules of conduct.
“I don’t think anyone would protect her. Americans won’t believe me, but there are no human rights in the Russian colonies – no right to health, dignity or life. Nothing, forget it.’
Griner’s appeal against her nine-year sentence was rejected by the Russian government last month, and her lawyers said on Wednesday she doesn’t know exactly where her client is.
According to Amnesty International, travel to a colony “can last anywhere from two weeks to a month or more”, with the travel being described as “cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment”.
Inmates in penal colonies face poor sanitation, food shortages, limited access to health care, and even physical and sexual violence in penal colonies, according to the State Department.
Prisoners are also subjected to extremely long work days, while Romanova said Griner will “probably jump in the toilets” and “hear insults that no one should ever hear.”
“The Russian government taught people a long time ago that Americans are the enemy of humanity,” she said.
Griner’s legal efforts to avoid her nine-year sentence in a penal colony were exhausted
While there are significant concerns about the release of Griner – who the US State Department believes is wrongly imprisoned – there doesn’t appear to be much progress on that front.
President Joe Biden said the US government had received “no positive response” from Russia despite its continued efforts to get Griner released, while Russia was unwilling to embark on a prisoner swap that would result in her release.
“While we work to secure Brittney Griner’s release, we expect Russian authorities to grant our embassy officials regular access to all U.S. citizens detained in Russia, including Brittney, as is their obligation,” a statement said State Department statement on Tuesday.
“Ensuring the health and welfare of US citizens detained in Russia is a priority and we will continue to urge fair and transparent treatment for all of them.”
Griner’s legal team wasn’t sure where she was earlier this week
A view of the penal colony where Maria Alekhina, a jailed member of the Russian punk band Pussy Riot, was held is seen December 19, 2013 in Nizhny Novgorod
The US government has approached Russia in a bid to swap both Griner and former Marine Paul Whelan, who was arrested in the country in 2018 on espionage charges.
But while Russia appears to have resisted US efforts to bring Griner home, there is precedent for a prisoner swap between the two nations.
The Biden administration conducted a prisoner swap in April in which Moscow released Navy veteran Trevor Reed in exchange for the US releasing a Russian pilot, Konstantin Yaroshenko, convicted of drug trafficking conspiracy.
Moscow has also protested the arrest of another Russian currently in US custody, Alexander Vinnik, who has been accused of laundering billions of dollars via an illegal cryptocurrency exchange. Vinnik was in detention in Greece after being arrested there on a US request in 2017 before being extradited to the US in August. It wasn’t clear if Russia could demand Vinnik’s release as part of a possible swap.
Griner’s wife, Cherelle Griner, appeared to acknowledge her wife’s guilt when speaking to CBS last month, but slammed the punishment Brittney received.
“I believe that a crime should warrant punishment,” Cherelle remarked. ‘But it has to be balanced… BG really has suffered beyond their crime.’