This post was originally published on The Washington Informer
By Stacy M. Brown
Russian authorities have transferred imprisoned WNBA star Brittney Griner to the country’s dreaded penal colony, a move that, while expected, she and her family had hoped could be avoided.
Attorneys for Griner said they don’t expect to know her exact location for a couple of weeks.
Russian officials jailed Griner in February when authorities arrested her at a Moscow airport after finding a small amount of cannabis oil in her luggage.
A court convicted Griner in August of trying to smuggle narcotics. She received a nine-year prison sentence, which an appeals court upheld last month.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said President Biden had directed all in the administration to prevail upon her “Russian captors” to improve Griner’s treatment and the conditions many must endure in the country’s penal colony.
Individuals who’ve spent time at one of Russia’s infamous penal colonies reported that prisoners aren’t allowed outside contact for weeks.