Appeal Denied: Inside Brittney Griner's 'Nightmare' Living Conditions As She Begins Her 9-Year Sentence In Russian Prison
Brittney Griner will begin serving her 9-year prison sentence locked away in a Russian prison after losing her appeal battle on Tuesday. RadarOnline.com is providing details about the WNBA star's living conditions at the Russia Penal Colony in Moscow where she will spend nearly one decade following her arrest for cannabis oil.
Griner addressed the Moscow Regional Court via video call this morning, pleading for mercy. "This has been a very traumatic experience, waiting for this day … getting nine years for the crime," the American athlete stated. "People with more severe crimes have gotten less than what I was given."
The court didn't see it that way and refused to adjust her sentence.
Griner's prison cell is about 11 feet of private space, which isn't much when she has two other women sleeping in bunk beds inside the same space. The basketball star-turned-convicted criminal spends most of her day behind bars.
Her lawyer, Alexandr D. Boykov, called Griner's living conditions a "nightmare," revealing she spends 23 hours a day in her cell. He also alleged that she's only allowed to shower twice a week.
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"She has not been in as good condition as I could sometimes find her in,” Boykov told the New York Times earlier this month, adding she's only allowed out of her cell one hour every day and uses that time to walk in the prison's tiny courtyard.
“She is not yet absolutely convinced that America will be able to take her home,” Griner’s lawyer said before the appeals hearing. “She is very worried about what the price of that will be, and she is afraid that she will have to serve the whole sentence here in Russia.”
Griner was sentenced to 9 years behind Russian bars in August following her February arrest at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport when she was caught with two vape cartridges containing less than a gram of cannabis oil.
The White House released a statement after the hearing, calling it a "sham judicial proceeding."
"President Biden has been very clear that Brittney should be released immediately," the statement read. "In recent weeks, the Biden-Harris Administration has continued to engage with Russia through every available channel and make every effort to bring home Brittney as well as to support and advocate for other Americans detained in Russia, including fellow wrongful detainee Paul Whelan.
"The President has demonstrated that he is willing to go to extraordinary lengths and make tough decisions to bring Americans home, as his Administration has done successfully from countries around the world. The Administration remains in regular touch with representatives of the families, and we continue to admire their courage in the face of these unimaginable circumstances."
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