Supporters say that former WNBA star Brittney Griner is facing harsh conditions in the Russian prison, where she is serving a 9-1/2-year sentence after a drug conviction.
According to Hostage US’s Amy Manson, the basketball player is suffering extreme trauma and challenges, Insider reported.
“They face the reality of poor nutrition, sometimes no access to fresh air or actual daylight,” Manson said. “Some of our returnees face as much as 50 to 60 to 70 pounds lost. And then we’re talking about muscle wastage, as well as the impact on their bodies of constant poor nutrition and constant stress.”
Hostage US works to help Americans held in other countries and offers resources to their families.
Griner’s wife recently met with President Biden for the first time since Griner was detained in Russia as she tried to flee the country in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“I want to thank President Biden for today’s meeting. It was an honor to speak with him directly about the Brittney we know and love, and to thank him for the Administration’s efforts to secure her release,” Cherelle said in a statement, according to ESPN. “I’ve felt every minute of the grueling seven months without her. I look forward to the day my wife is back home.”
Statement from Brittney Griner’s wife, Cherelle: pic.twitter.com/aZHbVmBIJc
— T.J. Quinn (@TJQuinnESPN) September 17, 2022
In August, Griner was convicted in a Russian court after she was arrested when her luggage was searched and was found to contain at least one vaping cartridge with CBD oils.
Marijuana is tightly restricted in Russia, and Griner was charged with drug trafficking for bringing the cartridge into the country. She was handed a 9-1/2-year sentence upon conviction.
Still, while a nearly ten-year sentence for pot seems outrageous to westerners, the sentence seems to be in keeping with Russian law and not a wild overreach merely because Griner is a famous American.
US Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) basketball player Brittney Griner, who was detained at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport and later charged with illegal possession of cannabis, leaves the courtroom after the court’s verdict in Khimki outside Moscow, on August 4, 2022. (KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images)
The Biden White House has taken criticism for not acting quickly enough to get Griner released from her Russian jail.
Biden issued a statement on the verdict in August that referred to Griner as “wrongfully detained,” but Russian officials called foul on that claim.
“Today, American citizen Brittney Griner received a prison sentence that is one more reminder of what the world already knew: Russia is wrongfully detaining Brittney. It’s unacceptable, and I call on Russia to release her immediately so she can be with her wife, loved ones, friends, and teammates,” Biden said.
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