WNBA gamer, whose location had actually been openly unidentified, remains in a chastening nest 500 km southeast of Moscow, legal representatives verify.
Published On 17 Nov 2022
United States basketball gamer Brittney Griner has actually been transferred to a chastening nest in Russia’s Mordovia area to serve a nine-year jail sentence for drug belongings, her legal representatives validated, as Washington continues to promote her release.
Griner’s attorneys stated in a declaration on Thursday that she was required to Female Penal Colony IK-2 in the town of Yavas, roughly 500 km (300 miles) southeast of Moscow.
The Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) star was moved from a detention centre near the Russian capital on November 4. While her legal representatives stated at that time that she had actually been relocated to a chastening nest, her specific location had actually been unidentified to the general public.
” We can verify that Brittney started serving her sentence at IK-2 in Mordovia. We visited her early today,” attorneys Maria Blagovolina and Alexander Boikov stated in Thursday’s declaration.
” Brittney is doing in addition to might be anticipated and attempting to remain strong as she adjusts to a brand-new environment.”
The United States State Department stated on Wednesday the embassy in Moscow has actually not had the ability to interact with Griner considering that the transfer.
” We, through our attorneys, know her place and remain in regular contact with Ms Griner’s legal group, however officially, the Russian Federation has actually still stopped working to supply any main notice for such a relocation of a United States resident, which we highly demonstration,” Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel informed press reporters.
” Our embassy and our objective in Moscow has actually continued to push for more details about her transfer and her existing area, and those demands continue to be continuous.”
Russian chastening nests are understood for their extreme conditions, where detainees are positioned in barracks, not private cells, and required to carry out everyday work.
Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medallist, is among 2 United States people Washington states are unjustifiably sent to prison in Russia. Paul Whelan, a United States Marine veteran, was sentenced to 16 years in jail in 2020 on espionage charges.
Griner’s arrest previously this year came days prior to Russia released a full-blown intrusion of Ukraine and her case has actually moved through the Russian court system amidst torn relations in between Moscow and Washington over the war.
Russian authorities stated they discovered vape cartridges including marijuana oil in her baggage as she was entering the nation to bet a Russian group throughout the WNBA’s off-season.
She was sentenced to 9 years in jail in August and, last month, a Russian court supported that sentence, which the basketball star’s defence attorneys referred to as extreme.
In previous procedures, Griner stated she did not plan to bring the vape cartridges into Russia which it was an “sincere error” they wound up in her bags.
Since Griner’s arrest, family members, colleagues and advocates have actually been contacting the United States federal government to put its complete weight behind the case to protect her release.
In September, United States President Joe Biden satisfied the Griner and Whelan households to upgrade them on his administration’s efforts.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated in July that Washington made a “considerable proposition” to Moscow to release the set. A number of United States media outlets reported around that time that the Biden administration had actually used a detainee exchange including a Russian arms dealership imprisoned in the United States.
United States authorities have actually stated they continue to engage with their Russian equivalents to protect the 2 Americans’ release.
Despite the degrading ties in between Washington and Moscow, Russia in April released Trevor Reed, a previous United States Marine. In exchange, the United States launched Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko who was serving a 20- year jail sentence in the United States over drug charges.
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Al Jazeera and news firms