U.S. Marine veteran Trevor Reed, who was released from Russian prison in April, described what Brittney Griner is currently facing right now.
In a CBS Mornings interview that aired on Tuesday, Reed described Russian prisons as “extremely dirty” and spoke about being served rotten food.
The cells there are extremely dirty,” Reed said. “Food there is really bad. A lot of times the food there is rotten. You may receive a broth that has a fish bone in it.”
Retired U.S. Marine Trevor Reed was freed in a prisoner swap in April, after spending nearly three years in Russian detention.
He says Brittney Griner’s appeal is unlikely to amount to much, claiming “all courts in Russia are fake.” pic.twitter.com/xNENDwm8NA
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) August 30, 2022
Griner is currently appealing her case after she was sentenced to nine years in prison last month on drug possession charges. Reed says that she shouldn’t keep her hopes up because all courts in Russia are fake.
“You may be requesting expertises or trying to find new evidence in order to appeal the ruling of the previous court during that time and that appeal could take years basically,” Reed recalled. “In the end, all of the appeals are fake. They’re as fake as the first trial you receive. All courts in Russia are fake.”
Reed did have a parting message for Griner and encouraged her to keep her head up while people back home fight to free her.
“Just know that people are fighting for you and just know that you have a lot of people supporting you back here at home and that the highest levels of the U.S. government are attempting to get you out, so keep the faith,”
The U.S. is currently working on a trade deal with Russia to get Griner back home but there haven’t been any updates for the past few weeks as both parties try to settle things behind the scenes without much media scrutiny.
