WNBA player, Brittney Griner has been removed from a detention center outside of Moscow, and is being transported to a Russian penal colony.
Earlier this year, the Russian court convicted Brittney Griner, an American WNBA basketball player, of drug smuggling. She was sentenced to nine years in jail.
Until recently, Griner was being held at a detention center outside of Moscow. However, on Wednesday (November 9), her legal team confirmed that she had been taken out of center, and was now in the process of being moved to a Russian penal colony, where she will serve out her nine-year sentence.
According to the lawyers, Brittney Griner’s “exact current location or her final destination” are unknown at present. However, as per “standard Russian procedure,” they expect that Russian authorities will let them know once the professional athlete has arrived at the destination, as well as notify the American embassy.
As reported by NPR, “Russian prison transfers can extend from several days to several weeks.” Griner’s transportation to a Russian penal colony follows last month’s Russian appeals court decision to uphold the basketballer’s drug smuggling conviction. The White House referred to this ruling as “sham justice.”
