US Furious After Russian Move Brittney Griner To Penal Colony
US basketball player Brittney Griner is being sent by Russia to a jail colony, according to her attorneys’ statement on Wednesday, sparking a harsh condemnation from the White House.
On November 4, according to Griner’s defense team, she was transported out of a detention facility after being found guilty of possessing a minor amount of cannabis oil.
According to her attorneys Maria Blagovolina and Alexander Boykov, she “is now on her way to a prison colony.”
They claimed that Russia often mails notifications of prisoner transformations, which can take up to two weeks.
They stated, “We do not have any information on her precise position at this time or her final destination.”
Despite escalating tensions over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, Secretary of State Antony Blinken has reached out to Russia to offer a solution to free Griner because the case has aroused outrage in the United States.
Karine Jean-Pierre, the press secretary for the White House, reaffirmed that the United States had made Russia a “significant offer” to settle the dispute.
“Every minute that Brittney Griner must endure wrongful detention in Russia is a minute too long,” Jean-Pierre said in a statement, “As the administration continues to work tirelessly to secure her release, the president has directed the administration to prevail on her Russian captors to improve her treatment and the conditions she may be forced to endure in a penal colony.”
Griner, a two-time gold medalist in the Olympic basketball competition and a Women’s NBA champion, had been in Russia during her off-season from the Phoenix Mercury Women’s National Basketball Association team to play for the professional Yekaterinburg team.
She claimed that the marijuana in the vape cartridges would help her treat the pain from her sports injuries, but Russia does not permit the use of medical marijuana.
According to reports, Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan, a retired US Marine who was detained in December 2018 and suspected of spying, could be exchanged for Viktor Bout, a renowned Russian arms dealer serving a 25-year sentence following a 2012 conviction.
AFP
