The worst omens came true with the case of Britney Griner. The basketball player United Statesdetained in Russia For drug trafficking, she was transferred to a penal colony in the country, as confirmed by her team of lawyers. However, the hardest part of the case is that they still have no word of his official whereabouts.
It was one of the biggest fears that the player of the phoenixmercury of the WNBA like his own family. For this reason, they wanted to speed up their situation as quickly as possible and be able to obtain their transfer to the United States as soon as possible. However, negotiations between the State President Joe Biden and the one who leads Vladimir Poutine stalled and Griner is now serving his sentence of more than nine years in prison under the worst possible circumstances. ESPN media reported that Russian penal colonies have a reputation for having worse detention conditions than ordinary prisons.
Brittney was arrested for possession and trafficking of a small amount of cannabis oil found in her luggage when she arrived in Russia, where she was preparing to continue her career after finishing the season in the United States. A very common practice among WNBA players, since in Russia they are paid up to four times more than in the American league just for a few months of play.
[Brittney Griner, sin vía de escape: Rusia rechaza su recurso y mantiene la pena de prisión de 9 años]
At first, Griner did not plead guilty to these crimes because she hoped the United States could intercede for her in the face of what she defined as negligence. According to his argument, he packed his bags so quickly and with such haste that he did not realize that in Russia these substances cannot be consumed as freely as in certain regions of the United States.
Her case is special, since Brittney uses this type of substance on medical prescription, to fight against the chronic pain she suffers due to her multiple injuries. But this does not matter to the Russian authorities, and they have decided to pursue the case until they impose this painful sentence of more than nine years in prison. Once she took on the guilt herself in an attempt to untangle the process, it all got worse as the United States continues without achieving this prisoner swap and Griner herself is going through her worst times.
[Rusia ‘condena’ a Brittney Griner: llama a EEUU «país de drogadictos» y rechaza el uso médico del cannabis]
worst possible fate
The WNBA player’s team of lawyers confirmed on Wednesday that Brittney had been evacuated from the prison where she was on November 4 to be sent to a penal colony in Russia where she would then do forced labor. However, they still don’t know what their current position is, nor do they know what their final destination will be. A situation that caused widespread alarm in their environment.
Even so, the player’s lawyers said that Russia usually always communicates such decisions via email and such communications can suffer delays of up to 15 days. For this reason, they do not lose hope of finding out in the near future what happened to their client.
[El polémico Rodman viaja a Rusia para convencer a Putin de la liberación de la jugadora Brittney Griner]
While Brittney’s situation is complicated, the United States continues to work to achieve a prisoner exchange that satisfies Russian authorities. A process in which Joe Biden even got involved, who is in constant communication with the family of the American star, in particular with his companion.
Griner, 32, was a two-time Olympic gold medalist with the United States and was also a member of the Russian league, where he played for the Yekaterinburg. However, he is now one of the biggest victims of the tension that exists between the two countries involved in the negotiation, which exploded after the outbreak of war in Ukraine. Griner’s treatment in the courts is striking, as others who have found themselves in similar situations have received sentences of around five years in prison and even a third of them are granted parole. . She was jailed in February and little is known about her real whereabouts so far.