Brittney Griner Speaks Out for the First Time Following Release From Russian Prison: "Feels So Good to be Home"

PHOENIX, ARIZONA - AUGUST 31: Brittney Griner #42 of the Phoenix Mercury during the first half of the WNBA game at the Footprint Center on August 31, 2021 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Brittany Griner Transferred to Forced Labor Camp After Russian Courts Reject Her Appeal

Iesha November 9, 2022 News Leave a comment

WNBA player Brittney Griner has been transferred to a forced labor camp.

According to her attorneys, Griner was moved to a labor camp after the Russian courts rejected her appeal for her 9-year sentence.

“We do not have any information on her exact current location or her final destination,” her attorneys, Maria Blagovolina and Alexander Boykov, said in a statement.

Griner has been detained in a Russian prison since February after authorities found cannabis oil in her luggage at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport.

According to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, the government is still trying to secure her release.

“Every minute that Brittney Griner must endure wrongful detention in Russia is a minute too long,” Jean-Pierre said Wednesday.

According to Griner’s legal team, she was transferred on Friday from a prison facility in Iksha.

It is standard Russian procedure for Griner’s attorneys and the U.S. Embassy to be informed when she reaches her destination, but this is done by mail, which can take two weeks.

“Our primary concern continues to be BG’s health and well-being,” said Griner’s agent, Lindsay Colas. “As we work through this very difficult phase of not knowing exactly where BG is or how she is doing, we ask for the public’s support in continuing to write letters and express their love and care for her.”

Jean-Pierre said that the U.S. “made a significant offer to the Russians to resolve the current unacceptable and wrongful detentions of American citizens.”

“In the subsequent weeks, despite a lack of good faith negotiation by the Russians, the U.S. Government has continued to follow up on that offer and propose alternative potential ways forward with the Russians through all available channels,” she said.