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US basketball player Griner starts serving her sentence in Russian penal colony

Brittney is doing her best to handle the situation, hold on and adapt to the new conditions, her lawyer Maria Blagovolin said

MOSCOW, November 17. /TASS/. US basketball player Brittney Griner, convicted in Russia of drug smuggling, started to serve her sentence in a penal colony in Russia’s Mordovia Region, her lawyer Maria Blagovolin told TASS.

"We confirm that Grittney started to serve her sentence in Mordovia’s Penal Colony Number 2. We visited her at the beginning of the week. Brittney is doing her best to handle the situation, hold on and adapt to the new conditions," the lawyer noted.

On August 4, the Moscow Region’s Khimki City Court sentenced Griner to nine years in a penal colony. She was found guilty under Article 228.1 of the Russian Criminal Code (illegal acquisition, storage, transportation or possession of narcotic drugs without intent to sell) and Article 229.1.2 of the Russian Criminal Code (significant drug smuggling). Griner was arrested at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport for attempting to smuggle hashish oil into Russia. She pleaded guilty but said that she had put the hashish oil into her bag in a hurry and had no criminal intent. The Moscow Regional Court later upheld her sentence.

As a member of the US women’s national team, Griner won gold medals at the 2014 and 2018 World Championships, as well as at the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games. Before her arrest, she played for Russia’s UMMC Ekaterinburg team.

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