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American basketball star Brittney Griner has been transferred to a penal colony in Yavas, within the western Russian area of Mordovia, her legal professionals mentioned Thursday, ending days of hypothesis over her whereabouts.
Her legal professionals, Maria Blagovolina and Alexander Boykov, thanked everybody who has reached out in assist.
“First, on behalf of Brittney, we want to thank everybody who has expressed take care of her,” they mentioned in a press release. “We are able to verify that Brittney started serving her sentence at IK-2 in Mordovia.
“We visited her early this week. Brittney is doing in addition to could possibly be anticipated and attempting to remain sturdy as she adapts to a brand new surroundings. Contemplating that this can be a very difficult interval for her, there will probably be no additional feedback from us.”
On Wednesday, the US State Division mentioned it had been in contact with Griner’s authorized staff and was conscious of reviews she had been despatched to a penal colony roughly a seven-hour drive southeast of Moscow.
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“Nevertheless, the Russian Federation has nonetheless failed to offer any official notification for such a transfer of a U.S. citizen, which we strongly protest. The Embassy has continued to press for extra details about her switch and present location,” a spokesperson mentioned.
Griner’s representatives confirmed beforehand she had been transferred from a detention middle in Iksha on November 4 – and that she was destined for a penal colony – however “we don’t have any info on her precise present location or her last vacation spot. In accordance with the usual Russian process, the attorneys, in addition to the U.S. Embassy, ought to be notified upon her arrival at her vacation spot. Notification is given through official mail and usually takes as much as two weeks to be obtained.”
The Olympic gold medalist and onetime WNBA champ is attempting to stay sturdy after 9 months separated from her family members, her agent, Lindsay Colas, mentioned.
“At the moment, we is not going to be sharing any additional particulars, however wish to specific our deepest because of the Biden Administration, the Richardson Middle, and to everybody who has reached out to supply phrases of encouragement to her,” she mentioned. Letters have poured in from all over the world and BG has been buoyed by the assist. Every letter issues and we encourage everybody to proceed to jot down and share your support.”
The Richardson Middle for International Engagement “promotes international peace and dialogue by figuring out and dealing on areas of alternative for engagement and citizen diplomacy with international locations and communities not often open to extra formal diplomatic channels,” its website says.
The first concern has been Griner’s well being and well-being, Colas mentioned earlier this week.
Whereas circumstances range amongst Russian penal colonies, political prisoners are sometimes positioned in harsh circumstances the place they are often subjected to “solitary confinement or punitive stays in psychiatric models,” the State Department’s human rights report says.
Invoice Richardson suggests Griner and Whelan could also be launched by finish of 12 months
Russian legislation additionally permits compelled labor in penal colonies, and in some instances, inmates have been tortured to dying, the report says. There are also reviews of jail authorities recruiting inmates to abuse different inmates, the report provides.
That Griner’s staff didn’t know her whereabouts earlier isn’t uncommon. Transfers to penal colonies are secret processes in Russia, with family and legal professionals usually unaware of the place a prisoner is being despatched for a number of days, in keeping with Amnesty International.
Final month, Griner lost her appeal towards a nine-year drug sentence. She was detained in February and convicted in August after acknowledging she had vape cartridges containing hashish. She has repeatedly apologized for bringing a small quantity of the substance into the nation, the place she performed basketball within the offseason.
Mordovia is identical area the place American Paul Whelan is being held. The previous U.S. Marine is serving 16 years in a unique penal colony on espionage fees he denies.
Griner’s detention has raised issues she is getting used as a political pawn in Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Most of Russia’s prisons are penal colonies, the place inmates are housed in barracks and are sometimes put to work, in keeping with a report by Poland-based assume tank the Centre for Jap Research, generally known as the OSW. Greater than 800 such services existed throughout Russia as of 2019, the group mentioned.
Constructed through the Soviet Union, many of the colonies have been likened to Soviet-era gulags; jail camps that expanded throughout the area throughout Josef Stalin’s rule within the mid-Twentieth century.
Biden meets households of Russia detainees
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CNN
Russia homes almost half one million prisoners in its services, one of many highest charges in Europe, in keeping with the World Prison Brief, however numbers have declined in recent times – in distinction to most elements of the world.
The extent of supervision and restrictions positioned on inmates at the moment depends upon the ability to which they’re sentenced. Not all require labor, however a number of high-profile dissidents, activists and international nationals who’ve been despatched to colonies describe harrowing and tough experiences.
Inmates are sometimes taken huge distances throughout the nation. Journeys to colonies are harmful and may final so long as one month, in keeping with Amnesty Worldwide. The journeys usually happen in cramped prepare carriages, and inmates usually arrive in overcrowded services with poor and getting older infrastructure, the OSW discovered.
“Regardless of a number of makes an attempt to reform the jail system in Russia, they nonetheless resemble the Soviet Gulag,” the group mentioned. “Human rights violations and torture are widespread.”
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