Brittney Griner, the anti-US-National Anthem former WNBA player has disappeared into the vast abyss of a Russian Penal Colony, likely, not to be heard from again for several years. This was expected to happen right after a Russian court upheld her conviction. And trust me, life will likely be very rough and uncomfortable for Brittney, who would probably pay millions just to hear the US anthem one more time, right? Sometimes you really don’t realize what you’ve got until it’s gone. And many spoiled American athletes don’t realize or remember what real “struggle” actually is… Brittney is finding that out the hard way.
And now, she’s spending her first Thanksgiving in the Russian gulag.
A member of the rock band Pussy Riot describes her time in a Russian forced work camp for females: The place could be best described as a tough, Soviet-style camp. The inmates were all housed in two big army-style barracks–there were anywhere between 50 and 100 people in each one. The barracks were built in the Soviet times – I guess in the 1920s.
All you’ve got inside are rows of bunk beds, a nightstand, and a stool. There is also a toilet but you cannot use it as there is no central sewage system. We used to go outside to the so-called ‘hole’, sometimes when it was -20C in the winter. In general, the climate in that remote swampy place surrounded by forest was just awful – cold winters and midges in the summer. In addition, there was a nuclear facility about 70km [44 miles] away from our camps.
The administration was very strict with us – rumours of beatings circled around the colony, although I didn’t witness any personally. More often there were fights between the inmates themselves. Mass beatings are usually a feature of male camps – the so-called ‘black colonies.’
There was no torture in FGU IK-14, but anyone disobeying the prison rules would be punished by getting sent to “shiza” [Russian abbreviation for schizophrenia] – a solitary cell.
The daily routine was also strict – they would wake us up at 06:00, and we would have morning exercises five minutes later. We had breakfast at 07:00, then work until 13:00 when we would have lunch.There was more work after that until 16:00, followed by dinner. Lights out was at 22:00.”
The US claims they know exactly where she is, but I find that questionable. You’ve got the former head of the KGB running Russia, everything they do over there is cloak and dagger and it seems as if this inept Biden admin is always several steps behind everything, except ballot harvesting. That seems to be the only thing they pour any energy into.
Here’s what CNN reported:
The US State Department is aware of detained WNBA star Brittney Griner’s whereabouts, principal deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said Wednesday.
Patel said they know the location of Griner – who was transferred from Moscow to a penal colony — through lawyers, and “formally the Russian Federation has still failed to provide any official notification for such a move of a US citizen, which we strongly protest.”
Patel did not provide details on where she has been moved, saying at a briefing, “our embassy and our mission in Moscow has continued to press for more information about her transfer and her current location and those requests continue to be ongoing.”
He said he was not aware that anyone from the embassy had been able to speak with Griner since her transfer.
Remember: Griner was convicted of deliberately smuggling drugs into Russia and sentenced to nine years of jail time in August in a case that has raised concerns she is being used as a political pawn in Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Judge Anna Sotnikova of the Khimki city court delivered the sentence and fined Griner 1 million rubles, or about $16,400. She said the court took into account Griner’s partial admission of guilt, remorse for the deed, state of health and charitable activities. Prosecutors had asked that she be sentenced to 9.5 years in jail.
Prior to the verdict, Griner apologized to the court and asked for leniency in an emotional speech.
What CNN fails to mention, is that Griner plead guilty to the crime, so I am not sure how this is suddenly “political,” except to say that she couldn’t have picked a worse time to commit a crime in Russia if she tried.
Why on earth would Putin, who is facing down a proxy war with the US, do anything to help Bumbling Joe Biden? Of course he wouldn’t, and anyone who thinks he would is a fool.
I have a feeling, Brittney would give anything to be at home, eating turkey, with the National Anthem blasting in the background, right about now.
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This post originally appeared on WayneDupree.com.