American President Joe Biden has taken a swipe at Russia
after basketball star Brittney Griner was sentenced to nine years in jail by a
Russian court.
Russia is moving detained US basketball star Brittney Griner to a penal colony, her lawyers said Wednesday, drawing a sharp rebuke from the White House.
Griner, convicted for possession of a small quantity of
cannabis oil, was transferred out of a detention center on November 4, her
legal team said.
She “is now on her way to a penal colony,” lawyers Maria
Blagovolina and Alexander Boykov said in a statement.
They said that Russia generally sends notifications of
transforming prisoners by mail, taking up to two weeks.
“We do not have any information on her exact current
location or her final destination,” they said.
Griner’s case has drawn outrage in the United States, with
Secretary of State Antony Blinken reaching out to Russia to propose a deal to
free her despite soaring tensions over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre reiterated
that the United States had put forward a “substantial offer” to Russia to
resolve her case.
“Every minute that Brittney Griner must endure wrongful
detention in Russia is a minute too long,” Jean-Pierre said in a statement.
“As the administration continues to work tirelessly to
secure her release, the president has directed the administration to prevail on
her Russian captors to improve her treatment and the conditions she may be
forced to endure in a penal colony.”
Griner, a two-time Olympic basketball gold medalist and
Women’s NBA champion, had been in Russia to play for the professional
Yekaterinburg team during her off-season from the Phoenix Mercury Women’s
National Basketball Association side.
She said the cannabis in vape cartridges was to treat pain
from her sporting injuries, but Russia does not allow medical marijuana use.
Reports have suggested that Griner and another American
jailed in Russia, Paul Whelan — a retired US Marine arrested in December 2018
and accused of spying — could be traded for Viktor Bout, a famed Russian arms
trafficker serving 25 years in prison on a 2012 conviction. AFP