Russia is moving detained U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner to a penal colony, her lawyers said Wednesday, drawing a sharp rebuke from the White House. Griner, convicted for possession of a small quantity of cannabis oil and given a nine-year prison sentence, was transferred out of a detention center on November 4, her Russian legal team said.
She “is now on her way to a penal colony,” lawyers Maria Blagovolina and Alexander Boykov said in a statement. They said Russia generally sends notifications of prisoner transfers by mail, taking up to two weeks.
“We do not have any information on her exact current location or her final destination,” they said.
Griner’s case has drawn outrage in the United States, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken reaching out to Russia to propose a deal to free her despite soaring tension over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre reiterated that the United States had put forward a “substantial offer” to Russia to resolve her case.
“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.”
Blinken issued a statement on Wednesday slamming Russia’s decision to transfer Griner “to a remote penal colony” as “another injustice layered on her ongoing unjust and wrongful detention.”
“We expect Russian authorities to provide our Embassy officials with regular access to all U.S. citizens detained in Russia, including Brittney, as is their obligation,” said Blinken, adding that the Biden administration would “continue to press for fair and transparent treatment” for all Americans held in Russia.
Griner, a two-time Olympic basketball gold medalist and WNBA champion, had been in Russia to play for the professional Yekaterinburg team during her off-season from the Phoenix Mercury WNBA side.
She said the cannabis in the vape cartridges was prescribed to her in the U.S. to treat pain from sports injuries, but Russia doesn’t allow any marijuana use, including medicinal.
Reports have suggested that Griner and another American jailed in Russia, Paul Whelan — a retired U.S. Marine arrested in December 2018 and accused of spying — could be traded for Viktor Bout, a famed Russian arms trafficker serving 25 years in prison on a 2012 conviction.
She ADMITTED she knew it was illegal to bring in the stuff, yet she DID IT ANYWAY thinking that she was a basketball “star” and could get away with it. If you do a crime, you do the time! Russia ISN’T America and they take the illegal drug situation VERY SERIOUSLY along with a bunch of other countries. Letting a dangerous man like Viktor Bout be traded would be the worst thing for the world. But Biden wants to show the world he’s a “leader” and propose such a stupid trade for such an ungrateful athlete who hates America but still wants to play a CHILD’S game and rake in the $$$ while blasting the country who’s letting her do that. She needs to do her time and reflect on why she lives in such a great country with FREEDOMS, unlike Russia.
Once she’s home after her term there, I hope she will come to be more appreciative of the freedoms that we have here.
Why does this person think America should get her out of a Russian jail when shes guilty and hates America. Neals for the anthem and flag. Let her pay for what she did.
“Wrongful detention”???? Wait a minute! All forms of cannnibus are illegal in Russia in any quantity. She has been playing basketball there for several years. She knew. She said, “I made a mistake”, she DID NOT say she did not know! We all make mistakes in life, some can be very costly as she is proving. But don’t worry, she will write a book after she is out.
Mr. Putin KEEP THAT P.O.S. there Anti American COMMIERAT!!!
She knew that she had an illegal drug in her possession, she knew the consequences of having that substance in her possession and thought she was above the law and did it anyway. Why our govt continues to say she was unlawfully detained shows the stupidity of our leaders. She should spend her time thinking about what she has done to disrespect the laws of a foreign country, and the disrespect she has shown for her own country. Maybe she will come to the conclusion that she should not have disrespected both.