Brittney Griner chopped her signature dreadlocks in Russian prison due to brutally freezing temperatures
SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS: Brittney Griner has now returned to the United States but the horrors she faced in the Russian prison are still fresh in her mind. On December 9, WNBA star Griner's ten-month captivity came to an end when she was exchanged for arms dealer Viktor Bout and released from Russia.
According to Griner's Russian lawyer, Maria Blagovolina, Griner had her hair cut two weeks ago because of the horrendous conditions within the prison. Blagovolina stated that Griner shaved her head because it would freeze each time she took a shower. Blagovolina stated, "It's very cold in there and every time she washed her hair she got cold and would get a chill." She further added, "She should have waited until New Year's Day." Griner also contracted the flu while she was detained and has since recovered, as per Daily Mail.
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Griner, 32, was scheduled to be moved to a nearby military facility for medical examinations after being detained in Russia in February on drug-related accusations. The WNBA star was traded for the 'Merchant of Death' Viktor Bout, 55, who was serving a 25-year sentence in a US prison, putting an end to what President Joe Biden called months of "hell" for her and her marriage.
Griner was seen exiting the aircraft after arriving on December 9 at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in Texas after traveling from the UAE, where the prisoner transfer took place. "She was in very, very good spirits when she got off the plane and appeared to be, obviously, in good health," White House spokesman, John Kirby, told MSNBC in an interview citing US officials on the ground in San Antonio, Texas.
Brittney Griner is back in the United States: pic.twitter.com/1c6kALlpdg
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) December 9, 2022
Republicans have criticized Washington for returning the renowned arms dealer, Bout, to Moscow amid rising tensions over Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine. Another American, Paul Whelan, who has been imprisoned for almost four years in Russia, still hasn't been freed, prompting Biden's opponents to criticize him.
Bout, in the meantime, claimed in interviews with Kremlin-controlled media on December 9 that the West wants to "destroy" and "divide" Russia. "The West believes that they did not finish us off in 1990 when the Soviet Union began to disintegrate ... They think that they can just destroy us again and divide Russia, " he told state-run channel Russia Today.
Griner is a graduate of Baylor University, a two-time Olympic gold winner, and a standout basketball player for Phoenix Mercury. The basketball team has yet to announce when or if Griner will make a comeback. The season starts on May 19 against the Los Angeles Sparks. Her situation as a BLACK, gay woman who has been imprisoned in a nation where the government has been antagonistic to the LBGTQ community added racial, gender, and social dimensions into her legal story and pushed the issue of wrongful detainees in Russia to a whole new level of prominence.
Brittney Griner says she’s happy to be released in footage from plane: pic.twitter.com/UXvFDRUXnX
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) December 8, 2022
The athlete, who also played professional basketball in Russia, was detained in February at an airport there amid claims by Russian officials that she was allegedly in possession of vape cartridges filled with cannabis oil. Prior to her conviction, the US State Department claimed that Griner had been "wrongfully detained"; however, Russia has categorically denied this claim. After being detained, Griner entered a guilty plea in July, but she was still put on trial because, in Russian law, admitting guilt does not automatically end a case.
She admitted having cannabis oil canisters in court but said she had packed them by mistake. Her defense team provided formal confirmation that she had received a cannabis prescription for pain relief. She received a nine-year prison term and a $16,000 fine, and she was required to do her time at the gulag town, Yavas' IK-2 penal colony.