Brittney Griner Getting Sent to the Harshest Type of Russian Prison for Women – Brittney Griner will be sent to the harshest category of female penal colonies, a so-called general regime prison, according to her lawyers. Many Russian women are sent to one of the 106 mixed-gender, low-security settlement penal colonies, but Griner’s conviction for drug possession means she will serve her nine-year sentence in one of the 35 women-only, high-security correctional facilities.
“It’s not an easy life in a settlement colony, but it’s a lot harsher in a general regime colony” Natalia Filimonovna, from the NGO Russia Behind Bars, stated. Sarah Krivanek, another American woman sentenced to prison in Russia, described her nine months in a nearby settlement colony as “hell” during a deportation hearing in Ryzan. Unlike settlement colonies, however, high security prisons have much stricter regulations and are surrounded by guard towers armed with automatic weapons, much like the Stalin-era gulags.
Krivanek was given a 16-month sentence for causing “slight physical harm” to her roommate, whereas Griner’s felony charge of bringing a vape pen containing hash oil into the country is considered a “grave” offense punishable by the harshest category of prison. Galina Yakovleva, a Russian woman who served seven years under the same statute as Griner, believes that Griner may be surprised by the support of her fellow inmates, although it is not yet clear which of the 35 colonies she will be sent to.
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“We’re living in times when you get sent to a colony for the slightest possible reason, and so everyone feels that injustice keenly and unite together to support each other, whoever you are,” she stated. “The majority of inmates are in for drug offenses,” she goes on. “I’m not at all surprised Brittney got nine years; it’s not unusual. All I can do is feel for her.” Krivanek told a news outlet in a phone interview from her deportation cell that “a drugs crime is seen as a crime against the nation, on a par with murder, and the sentence reflects that.”
She also mentioned that prisoners in her colony who disobeyed the rules were sent to a colony with a general regime as punishment. In Russia, lengthy transfers to a penal colony have long been the norm. Yakovleva explains that Griner will be held in a central prison for inmates until a space in the overcrowded penitentiary system can be found for her. She says it could take anywhere from two weeks to two months. Yakovleva, who now runs a charity for female prisoners with children, recalls being “terrified” when she first arrived.
“You don’t know what’s ahead of you. It’s all grim and grey. They take away all your belongings and give you a uniform and a headscarf which you have to wear all the time.” Inmates in the settlement colonies are permitted to wear their own clothes, keep their valuables and have money. “It’s a horrifying experience. They take everything that belongs to you — that makes you a person — away from you. It’s run like a military boot camp.” General regime prisons hold around 40,000 women. “The rules are much stricter there” says Ivan Melnikov of the International Committee for Human Rights.
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“Unlike the low security prisons, you are locked into your cells and are not permitted to walk around the territory freely or go beyond the prison walls for any reason.” “An inmate may be rewarded for good behavior after three or four years by being sent to a settlement colony,” he adds, saying that in his opinion the hardest thing for Griner will be not being able to speak the language and understand the intricate rules.
“For example, you have to show deference to the guards at all times and greet them in a certain way.” “If you break the rules, you can be sent to an isolation cell.” However, despite widespread reports of bullying and infighting, he believes Griner will be protected by the prison administration for fear of sparking an international scandal.
