The supporters of Brittney Griner continue to celebrate her return as she looks towards a comeback on the court. Around two weeks ago, Griner received one of the happiest news in a long time as the State Department secured her release from Russia on December 8. The WNBA star might have come across some difficult situations after spending quite some time in a detention facility and then a little over a month in the IK-2 facility. However, the WNBA star possibly escaped a ‘hellish’ situation, as per the account of a former prisoner.

A recent report laid out the experiences of Pussy Riot member Maria Alyokhina, who convicted of ‘hooliganism’ in February 2012 and spent nearly two years in a penal colony. She was eventually released in December 2013. Moreover, Alyokhina also revealed the details of horrific conditions that Griner might have escaped from.

Alyokhina reveals the horrors Griner escaped from

Maria Alyokhina shared her experience of being incarcerated in a penal colony in her 2017 memoir “Riot Days”. The female rights activist talked about the insane conditions and inhumane treatment of prisoners inside a Russian penal colony. However, the main theme of the book revolved around the humiliating treatment received by the prisoners. Alyokhina claimed that the prison guard tried to torture her mentally. She revealed that strip searches were quite common, often in front of other detainees, both in the Moscow detention facility and the prison colony.

As per a report from USA Today, “She writes of her stomach ?cramping from hunger? and that the toilet in their cell is ?a small hole in the floor on a raised platform? that has ?a terrible stench.?

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Alyokhina reckoned that starvation was not uncommon in the Russian prison. Moreover, prisoners were deprived of hygienic sanitation needs while facing terrible conditions. Thus, Brittney Griner’s release from Russia without serving her nine years sentence possibly saved the WNBA star from the hellish conditions of the penal colonies.

Griner’s mistakes could have hurt other prisoners

Alyokhina was in a similar situation as Griner, from a political standpoint. Just like BG, Alyokhina also stayed in contact with human rights groups. As a result, the Russian prisoner authorities refrained from mistreating the Pussy Riot founding member. Moreover, Alyokhina reckoned that if the prison guards had tried to torture her, the world would have heard about it. However, it did not stop the guards from punishing her cellmates.

Maria Alyokhina shared, “Nothing will happen to me: I?m a political (prisoner). But cellmates, they?ll be punished. I?m well aware of that.”

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Therefore, Griner’s detention in Russian could also have been tough on the cellmates who tried to be around the WNBA star or sympathize with her situation.