Imprisoned WNBA star Brittney Griner faces nine years in a Russian penal colony for attempting to bring a small amount of hashish oil onto a domestic flight with her Russian Premiere League team.
The Russian government denied her appeal for freedom last month. Griner received more bad news this week; her lawyers told People magazine that Griner will serve her sentence in a “general regime prison,” which is considered the “harshest category of penal colonies for women.”
“It’s not an easy life in a settlement colony, but it’s a lot harsher in a general regime colony,” Natalia Filimonovna, from the NGO Russia Behind Bars, told People.
President Joe Biden, fresh off his party’s surprisingly strong performance in Tuesday’s midterm elections, renewed his “determination” to free Griner earlier this week. The U.S. president said he hoped his party’s results in the midterms meant the Russians would take negotiations “more seriously.”
Russia has not officially commented on Griner’s new location to serve her sentence.