Former WNBA star Brittney Griner has been moved from a Russian detention center to a penal colony, where she will serve a nine-year sentence after being convicted of drug smuggling at a Moscow airport. Griner was caught with hashish oil and vaping canisters, which are illegal in Russia. Her trial has been highly publicized and negotiations with Russia to return her to the US have not been successful so far.
Former Russian prisoners who have spent time in penal colonies say that Griner will likely have a very difficult nine years because the conditions in the penal colonies are dismal, with extreme isolation, bad food and abusive wardens and personnel.
US citizen Trevor Reed, a former US Marine, spent nearly two years in a Russian prison and was freed earlier this year in exchange for a Russian prisoner serving a 20-year sentence in the United States for conspiring to smuggle cocaine into New York worth $100 million.
In 2019, Russian police accused Reed of assaulting two Russian police officers. He was detained in a detention center in Moscow, and awaited trial for almost a year. In 2020, a Russian court sentenced him to nine years in prison, and he was then transported to a penal colony in Moldova. He was in the colony for nine months before he was finally brought back to the US.
In an interview with reporters, Reed described the penal colonies as pure hell. He said that he would often curl up near the hot water pipes in his cell or pile on layers of clothing most nights because of the cold Moldovan weather.
Joey Reed, Trevor’s father, said that his son was able to survive the harsh conditions in the prison and didn’t suffer assault from the guards, because they knew he would be used in a prisoner swap. Even though the guards did not abuse him, he lost about 50 pounds because of the horrible food.
During his imprisonment, Trevor Reed went on two hunger strikes, protesting against being barred from calling his family and not receiving proper medical care.
A US State Department report shows that other inmates have not been as lucky as Reed, and the torture in the penal colonies has led to suicide or death in some cases. The Russian penal colonies are full of life-threatening human rights violations, including overcrowding, assault by guards and fellow inmates, no health care access, and poor sanitation.
Daniel Balson, the US advocacy director for Amnesty International in Europe and Central Asia, said that Russian penal colonies were among the cruelest, most inhumane, and most degrading places in the world.
Brittney Griner will face a harsh environment if she serves out her full nine-year sentence. If the Biden State Department does not successfully negotiate on her behalf, Griner will finish her sentence in 2031 and will be released when she is 40 years old. The psychological torture of the prison system will likely haunt her for many years after her release.
Marvin Makinen, a US citizen and former Russian prisoner, said that it took decades for him to adjust to normal life after his release. Makinen was arrested in 1961 and charged with espionage. He was sentenced to eight years in prison and spent two years of his sentence at Vladimir Prison, where he lost 55 pounds during his 28-month prison term. He said he was often put in solitary confinement before his release in 1963 in a prisoner swap.