Brittney Griner Breaks Silence, Issues Statment From Russian Gulag On Her 32nd Birthday
WNBA star Brittney Griner broke her silence from a Russian jail with a statement on her birthday as she stares down doing 9 years in that hellhole. Giner issued a statement through her lawyers Maria Blagovolina and Alexander Boykov, partners with Rybalkin, Gortsunyan, Dyakin and Partners.
Griner said: “Thank you everyone for fighting so hard to get me home. All the support and love are definitely helping me.” Her lawyers said:
“Today is of course a difficult day for Brittney. Not only is this her birthday in jail away from her family, teammates and friends, but she is very stressed in anticipation of the appeal hearing on October 25.”
The WNBA issued a statement that said:
“Happy Birthday Brittney Griner, we will not forget about you and we will not stop fighting for you. The W won’t be the same until you’re home #WeAreBG.”
According to The Daily Mail:
The basketball player’s cell mates are both English speakers who are also in jail on drug charges.
Prison rules dictate that inmates are only allowed to shower twice a week and Griner is able to get fresh air once a day.
The prison holds about 1,248 inmates and features a sewing factory that employees more than 400 inmates.
In July, the Times referred to the prison as having ‘gray painted halls and grim tall walls.’
But a top aide to Russian leader Vladimir Putin gave WNBA star Brittney Griner some bad news recently saying freeing her from prison is not a priority for the Kremlin and that Russia thinks Biden only cares about the midterms.
Yury Ushakov who was Russia’s ambassador to the United States between 1998 and 2008 and is now an aide to Putin said:
“In this tense situation, I think that he is thinking first and foremost about the upcoming midterm elections so he keeps emphasizing the need to bring back home the basketball player who was detained for drug smuggling. However, it’s not the main issue that we are concerned about.”
Griner’s lawyer, Alexandr D. Boykov, who last spoke with Griner on October 11 said Griner is starting to lose hope for a quick solution. He said:
“She is not yet absolutely convinced that America will be able to take her home.
“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.
Happy Birthday Brittney Griner, we will not forget about you and we will not stop fighting for you. The W won’t be the same until you’re home 🧡 #WeAreBG pic.twitter.com/J5sO2EkGLL
— WNBA (@WNBA) October 18, 2022
“Perhaps the verdict will somehow be changed and, perhaps, the sentence will be reduced, because the decision taken by the first court is very different from judicial practice.
“Considering all the circumstances, taking into account my client’s personality traits and her admission of guilt, such a verdict should be absolutely impossible.”
According to Axios:
Russia confirmed in August that it was negotiating with the U.S. about a potential prisoner exchange.
“Not with Putin,” President Biden said Wednesday when asked if there had been any progress on a potential meeting with the Russian president to discuss Griner’s case, per a White House pool report.
Griner’s spouse, Cherelle Griner, said in an interview earlier this month that Griner had suffered to “the max.”
“Brittney Griner’s birthday is today, she’s 32 years old.”
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 19, 2022
Steph gave BG a shoutout during the Dub’s ring ceremony. She’s been wrongfully incarcerated in Russia for 243 days. pic.twitter.com/dCh0SvxZUl
1/2 Top Kremlin Aide Yury Ushakov: “In this tense situation, I think that he [Biden] is thinking first and foremost about the upcoming midterm elections, so he keeps emphasising the need to bring back home the basketball player who was detained for drug smuggling.
— M. K. Bhadrakumar (@BhadraPunchline) October 16, 2022
2/2 “However, it’s not a priority issue for us.”
— M. K. Bhadrakumar (@BhadraPunchline) October 16, 2022