Brittney Griner sentenced to 9 years in prison in Russia for 0,7 grams of cannabis

American basketball player Brittney Griner was sentenced today to nine years in prison in a penal colony in Russia after a judge found her guilty of transporting illegal drugs into the country, according to her lawyers. The news was advanced by The New York Times, which also mentions that the judge fined Griner 1 million rubles, about 16.700 euros.

According to the indictment, Griner transported to Russia two cartridges for personal use, which contained 0,252 grams and 0,45 grams of hash oil, totaling 0,702 grams.

Brittney already had declared guilty, on the 7th of July, but stressed that he never had “intention to violate Russian laws” and explained that it was the rush to pack that caused the situation. “I packed my bags in a hurry and the packages ended up accidentally in my bag,” he told the Russian court at the time. The two-time Olympic champion, 31, had been arrested in February at Moscow airport for possession of less than a gram of cannabis oil in a cartridge of a vaporizer she used for chronic pain.

The sentence ended a media trial in which Griner became a pawn in a tense geopolitical confrontation between Russia and the United States over the war in Ukraine.

Elizabeth Rood, of the US Embassy in Moscow, told the New York Times that the verdict was "a miscarriage of justice", which Griner's defense team deemed "absolutely irrational". Lawyers will appeal.

“My parents taught me two important things: the first, to assume my responsibilities, and the second, to work hard to obtain what I have. I understand the allegations made against me and that is why I pleaded guilty, but I had no intention of violating Russian law.” — Brittney Griner, in statements filmed by Reuters

The player added: “I apologize to my colleagues, my team, my fans and my city for my mistake and the embarrassment I caused. I made an honest mistake and I hope I don't end my life here,” she said, visibly moved.

The future in a “penal colony” or “gulag”

Griner's fate is now uncertain and subject to diplomatic negotiations between Russia and the United States. Countries have been discussing the possibility of a prisoner exchange, but Moscow officials said no prisoner exchange was possible until a verdict was reached. The United States maintains that Griner should not have been detained, with President Biden calling the sentence "unacceptable", vowing to "pursue all avenues" to bring her home.

According to the New York Times, penal colonies in Russia are places where some prisoners end up being tortured or beaten by other prisoners. Others have to work 16 hours a day or are forced to watch Russian propaganda over and over again.

Penal colonies are descendants of the gulag, the Stalin-era labor camps where millions of Russians lost their lives. The treatment of prisoners has greatly improved since then, according to human rights groups, but these prisons, many of them scattered across Siberia, are still characterized by brutality, overcrowding and harsh conditions, often governed by a rigid prison culture.