Inside the Russian Penal Colony Where Brittney Griner ...
Aug 10, 2022 22:03:12 GMT
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Post by trueblue on Aug 10, 2022 22:03:12 GMT
'Inside the Russian Penal Colony Where Brittney Griner Will Serve Her 9-Year Prison Sentence'
After nearly six months in Russian custody, Brittney Griner was sentenced Thursday to nine years in prison and will begin her stay in a Russian penal colony.
The WNBA star and her lawyers had asked for leniency after officials at a Russian airport allegedly found less than a gram of hash oil in her luggage in February, but a Russian court sentenced Griner to nine years, just below the maximum-possible sentence of 10.
There's hope that Griner could leave earlier — her lawyers previously told PEOPLE that they're putting together an appeal to attempt to reduce her sentence, and the Biden administration confirmed that they are working on a potential prisoner exchange to bring her home — but for now, she'll live in a penal colony in Russia.
Across Russia, there are 35 women's penal colonies that house an estimated 60,000 inmates, Ivan Melnikov, the vice president of the Russian Department of the International Human Rights Defense Committee, and Yekaterina Kalugina, a Russian human rights activist who observed Griner and her living conditions in March, tell PEOPLE.
After nearly six months in Russian custody, Brittney Griner was sentenced Thursday to nine years in prison and will begin her stay in a Russian penal colony.
The WNBA star and her lawyers had asked for leniency after officials at a Russian airport allegedly found less than a gram of hash oil in her luggage in February, but a Russian court sentenced Griner to nine years, just below the maximum-possible sentence of 10.
There's hope that Griner could leave earlier — her lawyers previously told PEOPLE that they're putting together an appeal to attempt to reduce her sentence, and the Biden administration confirmed that they are working on a potential prisoner exchange to bring her home — but for now, she'll live in a penal colony in Russia.
Across Russia, there are 35 women's penal colonies that house an estimated 60,000 inmates, Ivan Melnikov, the vice president of the Russian Department of the International Human Rights Defense Committee, and Yekaterina Kalugina, a Russian human rights activist who observed Griner and her living conditions in March, tell PEOPLE.