The U.S. State Department confirmed Wednesday that U.S. basketball player Brittney Griner is in a Russian penal colony, transferred there last week from Moscow by the Eurasian country’s authorities.
However, the State Department’s deputy spokesman, Vedant Patel, has denounced that Russia «has not provided any official notification» about it, which is why Washington has sent Moscow its «strong protest», according to CNN.
Patel did not elaborate on the details of Griner’s whereabouts, although he remarked that the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, and the entire diplomatic delegation, is «pressing for more information on the transfer and current location» of the athlete.
Maria Blagovolina and Alexander Boikov, both of Griner’s lawyers, confirmed last week that Russian authorities had transferred the athlete — sentenced to nine years in prison for drug possession — to a penal colony.
For her part, the White House spokeswoman, Karine Jean-Pierre, reiterated at that time Washington’s denunciations of what they consider to be an illegal detention on the part of the Russian authorities, and assured that the United States «is working tirelessly to obtain her address».
The White House has offered to exchange the player and ex-Marine Paul Whelan – imprisoned in Russia on espionage charges – for arms dealer Viktor Bout, known as the ‘merchant of war’, who is serving a 25-year prison sentence in the United States, although negotiations have not been fruitful.
