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Brittney Griner explained the mental challenge she endured during her time in Russian detention. Speaking in an interview on ABC’s “20/20” she said she considered taking her own life on multiple occasions.
The WNBA star spent almost 300 days in custody in Russia having been detained in February 2022 and sentenced to nine years in prison after authorities found cannabis oil in her luggage.
The US State Department deemed that Griner had been wrongfully detained and she was released in December 2022 in a prisoner swap involving Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.
“I wanted to take my life more than once in those first weeks. I felt like leaving here so badl. I just didn’t think I could get through what I needed to get through. I definitely thought about it. But then, I was just like, ‘What if they didn’t release my body to my family?’ I can’t put them through that. I have to endure this,” she said in the interview.
Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, also said that she was required to write Russian President Vladimir Putin a letter asking for forgiveness. “They made me write this letter,” said Griner, not specifying who told her to write the letter. “It was in Russian. I had to basically ask for forgiveness and thanks from their so-called great leader. I didn’t want to do it, but at the same time, I want to come home.”
In the same interview, Griner detailed the conditions she was subjected to in prison, including dirty cells, a huge blood stain on her mattress, no soap and not enough toilet paper.
Overally, Griner's experience in detainment was not one would wish for and I this triggered her to attempting suicide.
Lewis Musonye
