The American basketball player Brittney Griner has revealed the conditions she had to face in the Russian prison where she entered after being arrested for drug possession. The athlete was imprisoned from February to December 2022 and has now told the North American network ABC how there were “spider nests” and blood stains on the bed in his cell.
“The mattress had a huge blood stain and they give you very thin sheets, so you’re practically lying on some bars”, Griner began by saying.
Likewise, the American said that she decided to cut her hair because her dreadlocks were freezing: “It was something that had to happen. We had spiders on top of my bed making nests. “My dreadlocks started to freeze and stay wet and cold, making me sick.”
The Phoenix Mercury player in the American WNBA also said that they gave her expired toothpaste and that they used it to remove black mold from walls.
The reason for the arrest
Griner, one of the best players in American women’s basketball, was arrested for drug possession when she I was traveling to Russia.
As he admitted in the interview, he completely forgot that he had cartridges with hashish oil for vaping in your suitcase and defined it as “a huge mistake” not to have taken it out of his luggage when traveling to Russia, where he was going to compete in the local basketball league. The American knew that it was prohibited to carry drugs in Russia.
“I said ‘how could I make this mistake?’ I could see all the things there were worked so hard breaking into pieces and disappearing”, Griner assured.
Griner, leader of the US team, was sentenced to nine years in prison for drug possession and smuggling. However, the player’s team of defense attorneys argued that the hashish oil she had on her had been obtained with a prescription and that she used it “for medical and not recreational purposes.”
After months of negotiations between the American and Russian governments, the athlete was released and He returned to playing basketball with the Phoenix Mercury in 2023.
