Judy: Let's look at what
Brittney Griner could be facing,
even as the U.S. Government
continues to negotiate for her
release in a prisoner swap.
The basketball star was
sentenced to nine years in a
penal colony.
That happened after Griner told
a Russian court that she "Made
an honest mistake."
Her defense team had tried to
persuade the judge to be
lenient, saying Griner did not
intend to break Russian law
deliberately.
Many wnba players posted
messages of solidarity, and she
has been widely seen as caught
up in the politics of the
moment.
But now, there are tough choices
ahead.
Journalist Julia yoffee follows
this and the Russian system
closely.
She's the founding partner of
puck news and joins me now.
Julia, welcome back to the
newshour.
Nine years in a prison, in a
pinot: A, for possession of a
small amount of cannabis oil.
How does this sentence compared
to what a Russian citizen or
ordinary foreigner would have
received?
Julia: It is hard to say because
right now an American would get
a lot.
In fact, earlier this summer, a
couple months ago, an American
teacher who used to work at the
American embassy was sentenced
to 14 years for possession of
cannabis, even though he too had
a prescription, which is
meaningless in the Russian
system, which is a
zero-tolerance country.
Of course, this is not about
marijuana and this isn't about
medical marijuana.
This is about the fact that
Russia sees itself as being
at war with the U.S. And Ukraine
right now and it is basically
kidnapping American citizens and
using them as pawns to get
concessions out of the U.S..
Judy: The fact that she tried to
play it straight.
She said it was a mistake.
She apologized for what had
happened.
But that didn't seem to have any
bearing on the sentence that she
received.
Julia: Even if we disregard the
situation around her, Russia
invaded Ukraine just exactly a
week after she was arrested.
But even if we set that aside,
even if we set aside the fact
that relations between
Washington and Moscow completely
fell apart in the week after she
was arrested, just the arrest
for drug possession basically
presupposes a guilty verdict.
It doesn't matter what she said
in court, whether she pled
guilty or not guilty, how she
explained it, what kind of
witnesses she brought, she would
have been found guilty no matter
what.
The question is how long would
the sentence be that the
prosecutor asked for and what
kind of sentence the judge would
have handed down?
Would it be something "Light"
like a five year probation
sentence, or something lenient
like six or seven years in a
penal colony?
It is worth noting the most
common prison sentence for
Russian women, most Russian
women in penal colonies in
Russia are there for drug
possession.
Judy: We don't know what to make
of that.
What do you think the prospects
are that there was all this talk
last week about a potential
prisoner swap for Brittney
Griner and another American
being held in Russia, Paul
whelen, for Victor bout, a
notorious arms dealer being held
in the United States?
What do you think are the
prospects for something like
that coming together?
Julia: There are two things
coming together.
Even though Paul whelen was
framed with a memory card and
Brittney Griner was arrested
with a small amount of cannabis
oil and they are being
potentially traded for an arms
dealer who traded arms at a
massive scale internationally,
which you would think would be
still a lopsided trade in
Russia's favor.
The Russians are saying let's do
a two for two trade or else it
doesn't count.
They are trying to offer things
that are not serious.
They are throwing into the
equation and elite fsb officer
convicted in Germany of
assassinating somebody in a
German park in broad daylight.
Not only is he a murderer, he is
in German custody.
He is not somebody the U.S. Can
even hand over.
He is not in U.S. Custody.
From what my sources in the
Biden administration tell me,
the talks are not going well.
The Russians do not seem eager
to play ball and they seem to be
just kind of dragging their feet
and seeing how much they can get
out of the Biden administration.
Judy: Hardly any equivalents if
there were to be a swap.
What does she face?
Nine years in a penal colony.
What kind of imprisonment are we
talking about?
Julia: In Russia, people are in
prison for their pretrial
detention a while the
case is being appealed, then
they are transferred to a penal
colony.
Many of these penal colonies are
built insights that gulags -- on
sites that gulags were.
There is a lot of outdoor time,
they are doing a lot of work.
A lot of women's colonies are
sewing for example uniforms for
state agencies, and the heads of
these prison colonies
make a lot of money off the
slave labor of the women in
these camps.
These camps are often quite
violent and have very elaborate
hierarchies.
There is a lot of sexual
violence from the guards in
these camps.
My fear is that Brittney Griner
as a very tall American and
black woman really sticks out.
She doesn't speak Russian.
Unless somebody in the colony
speaks English and takes her
under their wing, she is going
to have a really tough time
navigating an already very harsh
terrain.
Judy: Very difficult to even
think about that.
Julia, thank you for joining us.