A former prisoner who was imprisoned in the same Russian penal camp as Brittney Griner is now claims she is “terrified” for Griner after learning of her location.
“I’m afraid that Brittney Griner was transported to IK-2,” said Nadya Tolokonnikova, a member of the musical group “Pussy Riot” who notably spent two years in a Russian correctional colony on “hooliganism” accusations.
“It’s one of the hardest colonies — the harshest colony in the entire Russian prison system. I was protesting against the terrible conditions in my penal colony. But I know every single chief official at IK-2, and I know exactly what human rights violations they commit on a daily basis, as well as the type of torture they use on inmates.”
Tolokonnikova went on to describe IK-2’s conditions as “slave-like.” “Prisoners are expected to perform physical labor — including duties such as cooking, cleaning, and sewing — for “up to 17 hours a day” without breaks or days off,” the article continues.
After weeks of searching for WNBA star Brittney Griner, her lawyers have revealed that she has been discovered and relocated. Griner has been transferred to a correctional camp in Russia’s Mordovia area.
Griner has been “located to Female Penal Colony IK-2 in Yavas, where she will carry out the remainder of her sentence,” according to the source. Yavas is about 300 kilometers from Moscow.
“We are aware of reports of her whereabouts and are in regular contact with Ms. Griner’s legal team,” a State Department spokeswoman said. “However, the Russian Federation has yet to provide any formal notification for such a move by a US person, which we strongly condemn. The Embassy has pressed for more information about her transfer and current whereabouts.”
New information is being released as Brittney Griner’s lawyers claimed just a few days ago that the WNBA star’s whereabouts are currently unknown.
Griner was sentenced to 9 years in a Russian prison after less than a gram of cbd oil was discovered in her luggage.
“We have no knowledge on her precise current whereabouts or final destination,” Griner’s attorneys, Maria Blagovolina and Alexander Boykov, said in a statement.
An update has been released after her lawyers said Griner was taken to a correctional camp but no one knew where. Natalia Filimonovna of the NGO Russia Behind Bars stated in a statement shared with People, “It’s not an easy life in a settlement colony, but it’s a lot tougher in a general regime colony.”
According to Griner’s lawyers, most “women in Russia are sent to one of the 106 mixed gender low-security settlement penal colonies,” but Griner will now serve her 9-year sentence “in one of the 35 high-security correctional institutions for women solely.”
The high-security jails “are guarded by guards in turrets with automatic guns, much like the Stalin-era gulags.”
However, while the type of penal colony to which Griner would be taken is known, the exact location is unknown. Sarah Krivanek, another American woman imprisoned in a Russian penal colony, described her experience as “hell.”
While it is unclear when anyone will be informed of Griner’s whereabouts, her lawyers say they expect to learn of her final destination by mail once she arrives at the penal colony, which is described as a prison camp where prisoners are housed in barracks and forced to perform labor, as previously reported.
According to further reports, the great majority of Russian jails are penal or exile colonies, and “claims of sexual abuse, unclean conditions, and even torture have surfaced in recent years” from individuals confined in penal colonies, according to Axios.
“Our major concern is BG’s health and well-being,” said Griner’s representative, Lindsay Colas, in a statement. “As we struggle through this difficult period of not knowing where BG is or how she is doing, we ask for the public’s assistance in continuing to write letters and express their love and concern for her.”
Cherelle Griner talked up about her wife, Brittney Griner, being jailed in a Russian prison during the Glamour Women of the Year Awards.
“I’ve spent the last eight months riding waves of grief and, to be honest, absolute disbelief,” Cherelle said. “I can’t believe I’m standing here in front of you all without my favorite person, my greatest love, my sanctuary.”
