Brittney Griner, a professional American basketball player, was detained in Russia in 2022 for hashish oil possession and faced 5-10 years in prison under Russian law.

The US-Russia tensions were high due to the Ukraine invasion, and Griner's detention was seen as a potential bargaining chip.

The US government considered Griner "wrongfully detained" by Russia, and her detention was a political issue amidst US-Russia tensions.

Griner's wife, Cherelle, asked for privacy during negotiations, and delicate negotiations were ongoing to get Griner home safely.

Griner was considered a political prisoner and leverage point, and the US State Department was being tight-lipped about the situation.

Griner pleaded guilty to drug charges in Russia, but her lawyers expected leniency due to her guilty plea.

The US State Department classified Griner as wrongfully detained, and she wrote a letter to President Joe Biden for help.

The Biden administration offered to release Viktor Bout for Griner, and Russia used Griner as a bargaining chip in international relations.

Griner's detention highlighted the disparity in pay between NBA and WNBA players, and her case sparked calls for her release using the hashtag #FreeBrittney.

The US government's handling of Griner's case may impact her chances of being released, and Griner may be labeled a hostage by the US government.

Russia may use Griner as leverage over the US, and Griner's case is not getting enough attention due to her sexual orientation and being a female athlete.

The US government was in discussions for a trade involving Griner for Viktor Bout, and Griner's case tied to geopolitical tensions between US and Russia.

Griner was sentenced to 9 years in a Russian penal colony, and the US government considered her detention wrongful.

The Biden administration offered a prisoner swap for Griner and Paul Whelan, but Russia made a "bad faith" counteroffer to the US proposal.

Griner's case has sparked online petitions and public outcry, with 64,192 signatures on a Change.org petition.

Griner's detention preceded Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and Russian authorities were investigating Griner's case.

Griner was detained in Russia on drug charges, and she faces up to 10 years in prison.

Griner pleaded guilty but denied intentional law breaking, and US officials called Griner's detention wrongful.

The US made a deal offer to bring Griner home, and Griner was prescribed medical cannabis in the US.

Cannabis is illegal in Russia, and Griner's case highlights US-Russia strained relations.

The US-Russia relations were at the lowest since the Cold War, and the Kremlin claims Griner's case is not political.

Griner was eventually released from prison on December 8, 2022, in a prisoner swap for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

Griner's release was a result of the US government's persistent efforts, and she was finally able to return home after nearly a year in Russian prison.

Griner's wife, Cherelle, felt that Brittney was a hostage in Russia and was terrified for her safety, but was relieved when Brittney was finally released.

After her release, Griner returned home, where she was welcomed back, and began to adjust to life after her experiences in the Russian prison system.

Griner's story sparked outrage in the United States, with many considering her detention unlawful, and the WNBA and US officials worked to secure her release.

The US government considered Brittney Griner unjustly arrested by Russia and found that she was illegally detained.

The US government started negotiations for Brittney Griner's return and believed she was being unjustly detained by Russia.

The Biden administration chose a one-for-one swap with Russia, which resulted in Viktor Bout being released in exchange for Brittney Griner.

The US offered Viktor Bout for Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan in a proposed swap to facilitate their release.

US President Joe Biden confirmed Brittney Griner's release and safety after she was freed from a Russian prison in exchange for Viktor Bout.

The US government negotiated the prisoner exchange with Russia, with the UAE helping to facilitate the swap.

The US government worked towards Brittney Griner's release since February, after she was wrongfully detained in Russia.

The Biden administration was working to free Brittney Griner from Russia, with President Biden speaking with Brittney Griner's wife to promise her release.

The White House was committed to securing Brittney Griner's release, with President Biden receiving daily updates on the negotiations.

The US government proposed a substantial offer to repatriate Griner and Whelan, which included trading Victor Bout for their release.

The US diplomat revealed negotiations for Brittney Griner's release, with the US submitting a proposal to Russia but getting no serious response initially.

The US Embassy in Russia was involved in negotiations for Brittney Griner's release, with the US making a serious proposal to Russia.

The Biden administration was considering a prisoner swap to free Brittney Griner, with Russian media speculating that Viktor Bout could be swapped for her.

The State Department met with the WNBA to discuss Brittney Griner's detention and reclassified her as unjustly detained in May.

The US government opposes wrongful detention as a bargaining chip and changed Griner's status to "wrongfully detained".

The Biden administration offered to swap Brittney Griner for Viktor Bout, with Bout serving a 25-year sentence in federal prison.

The US government proposed a prisoner exchange to free Brittney Griner, with Russia proposing an exchange involving Viktor Bout.

The US government communicated directly with Russia about the proposal, with Blinken set to discuss the deal with the Russian Foreign Minister.

Griner's experiences in the Russian penitentiary system were harsh, with limited access to basic necessities, and she had to adapt to a difficult environment, but she was eventually released from Russian detention on December 8, 2022.

The US government's efforts to free Griner included a prisoner swap, which was negotiated by President Joe Biden and involved the release of Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer.

Griner's release was a result of the US government's persistent efforts, and she was finally able to return home after nearly a year in Russian prison.

Griner's wife, Cherelle, felt that Brittney was a hostage in Russia and was terrified for her safety, but was relieved when Brittney was finally released.

After her release, Griner returned home, where she was welcomed back, and began to adjust to life after her experiences in the Russian prison system.

Griner's story sparked outrage in the United States, with many considering her detention unlawful, and the WNBA and US officials worked to secure her release.

Griner cut her dreadlocks before release from Russian prison to avoid freezing during the Russian winter.

She made the decision two weeks prior to her release, as she feared her hair would freeze and make her sick.

Griner was preparing for a long prison term and had abandoned hope of being released soon.

The US government secured her release before the New Year, bringing an end to her difficult life in Russian prison.

Griner's life in Russian prison was very difficult, and she is finally back home in the US.

After her release, Griner thanked President Joe Biden for her release and plans to play for the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury.

Griner was arrested for carrying cannabis oil and was sentenced to nine years in prison.

She expressed gratitude on Instagram after her release and vowed to play in the upcoming season.

Griner returned to the US after 10 months in Russian jail and played for the Phoenix Mercury in a WNBA pre-season warm-up.

She scored 10 points and 3 rebounds in 17 minutes of play, and expressed gratitude to be back playing basketball in the US.

Griner signed a one-year deal with the Phoenix Mercury after her release and averaged 19.1 points and 6.4 rebounds in her first nine games.

She was named an All-Star starter after her return, and her presence transformed the Mercury's locker room.

Griner's imprisonment forced the WNBA to improve pay and travel standards, and broadcasts of WNBA games increased by 49% after her return.

Griner was harassed at a Dallas airport in mid-June, but the WNBA allowed private flights for back-to-back games and playoff games to ensure her safety.

Griner welcomed a child boy on July 8 and plans to compete in the Paris Olympics.

She won gold in the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games and is set to play for the US women's basketball team.

Griner spent 294 days in Russian custody and was sentenced to nine years in a Russian penal colony.

She pled guilty to charges in August and was released in a prisoner swap with Viktor Bout.

Griner was taken to Brooke Army Medical Center's reintegration center after her release and may undergo mental health evaluations at UT Health San Antonio.

Griner's family thanked President Joe Biden for her release, and she is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and WNBA star.

Griner was heckled at an airport by conservative YouTuber Alex Stein, but she remained silent during the confrontation.

The Phoenix Mercury made travel adjustments for upcoming road games to ensure Griner's safety, and the WNBA is working to keep her safe.

Griner scored 29 points in a win after the incident, and the players

Brittney Griner, a professional American basketball player, was detained in Russia in 2022 for hashish oil possession and faced 5-10 years in prison under Russian law.

Title:

Content: Brittney Griner: American women’s basketball superstar detained in Russia

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Brittney Griner, one of America’s most decorated women’s basketball players, has been detained by the Russian Federal Customs Service after it said it discovered vape cartridges that contained hashish oil in her luggage at an airport near Moscow.

The Customs Service confirmed in a statement issued on Saturday that the detainee in an incident last month at Sheremetyevo airport was a professional basketball player who played in the Women’s National Basketball Association and had also won two Olympic gold medals with the United States, but did not release the player’s name.

Related: Russia’s NHL hero Alex Ovechkin has a rare chance to hit Putin where it hurts

Russia’s state-run Tass news agency identified the player as Griner, a seven-time All-Star center with the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury who helped lead Team USA to gold at the Rio and Tokyo Olympic Games, citing a law enforcement source.

According to the Customs Service statement, drug-sniffing dogs in the airport’s customs area indicated the possible presence of narcotic drugs in the player’s carry-on baggage following her arrival on a flight from New York. A subsequent search of the luggage led to the discovery of the cartridges, a criminal violation under Russian law that carries a sentence of five to 10 years.

The Customs Service also released a video on Saturday in which the airport security services are seen going through the luggage of a passenger identified as Griner.

In a statement to the Guardian, Griner’s agent Lindsay Colas said: “We are aware of the situation with Brittney Griner in Russia and are in close contact with her, her legal representation in Russia, her family, her teams, and the WNBA and NBA.

“As this is an ongoing legal matter, we are not able to comment further on the specifics of her case but can confirm that as we work to get her home, her mental and physical health remain our primary concern.”

The WNBA said in a release that Griner has the league’s “full support” and “our main priority is her swift and safe return to the United States”.

The Mercury echoed those sentiments in a statement issued later Saturday, saying they were “in constant contact” with Griner’s family and their main concern was the player’s safe return.

The 31-year-old Griner, who led Phoenix to the franchise’s third ever title in 2014 and a surprise return to the WNBA finals in October, has also played for UMMC Ekaterinburg during the offseason since 2015, helping the Russian club to three domestic titles and EuroLeague Women championships in 2016, 2018, 2019 and 2021.

Nearly 90 of the WNBA’s 144 rostered players have spent time playing overseas during this offseason, where the earnings from their foreign clubs often dwarf what they make in the United States. Griner’s annual salary with UMMC of more than $1m per year is roughly quadruple the WNBA’s league maximum of about $228,000.

It is unclear how long Griner has been detained as Saturday’s statement said only that her arrest took place some time in February. She last played for UMMC on 29 January before the league took a two-week international break for Fiba World Cup qualifying and has been inactive on social media since 5 Feburary.

News of Griner being detained comes as Russian forces continue to bomb civilian targets on the 10th day of its invasion of Ukraine and amid heightened tensions between Moscow and the rest of the world. The US president, Joe Biden, has condemned the invasion of Ukraine and pushed a raft of sanctions with other world leaders against Moscow, which he says have left Putin isolated.

On Saturday, the US state department urged US citizens to leave Russia immediately, re-issuing its travel advisory.

Earlier Saturday, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the president of Ukraine, held an hour-long video call with United States senators in which he called for more support to defend his country from Russia’s invasion.

Rick Scott, a Republican, called for stronger measures against both Russia and its ally Belarus, tweeting that the US should take “EVERY action to destroy their economies”.

Griner is not the first US citizen to have been held in custody by Russian authorities as tensions between the countries have soared, prompting accusations by American officials that Moscow is using the detentions as bargaining chips for a potential prisoner exchange.

In January, Russian officials announced that US teacher Marc Fogel was earlier arrested in a Moscow airport with marijuana and cannabis, accusing the teacher of smuggling drugs into Russia and distributing them among students on a “large scale”.

That revelation followed the detention of two US Marines in separate incidents: Trevor Reed, who was charged with attacking two Russian police officers in a drunken brawl, and Paul Whelan, who was jailed after being convicted on espionage charges.

John Sipher, a national security analyst and veteran of the CIA’s clandestine service, pointed to the “decimated” state of the US embassy in Russia as a complicating factor in Griner’s case.

“There’s been a number of tit-for-tat expulsions over spy cases and the ambassador has been kicked out, so the embassy is under quite a bit of pressure with this crisis,” Sipher said Saturday in an interview on MSNBC. “I think it’s important to publicize her case because that’s the best thing that keeps her safe in this situation, because Russians have a tendency of not treating people very well who are in their custody.”

Griner, a 6ft 9in post player whose nose for the basket is matched only by her shot-blocking prowess, has played her entire nine-year WNBA career with the Mercury after an extraordinary four-year stint at Baylor University, where she led the Bears to an undefeated season and a national championship in 2012. She remains the only NCAA basketball player in history, male or female, to record 2,000 points and 500 blocked shots.

She has also been a trailblazer off the court in her own self-effacing style. Griner matter-of-factly acknowledged that she was a lesbian only days after Phoenix made her the No 1 overall pick in the 2013 WNBA draft – becoming one of the few out athletes in American sports at the time and arguably the most prominent – and later revealed that she had been silenced about her sexuality by her college coach over fears that it would hurt recruiting. (The coach did not deny the claim, saying that she was unable to respond specifically due to privacy concerns.)

One of only 11 players to have won NCAA, WNBA, EuroLeague and Olympic titles, Griner is widely regarded as one of the most dominant players of her or any generation.

The US-Russia tensions were high due to the Ukraine invasion, and Griner's detention was seen as a potential bargaining chip.

The US government considered Griner "wrongfully detained" by Russia, and her detention was a political issue amidst US-Russia tensions.

Title:

Content: 2 hours ago - World

Russian court again extends Brittney Griner's detention

A Russian court extended American basketball star Brittney Griner's detention for a second time on Tuesday, meaning she will remain in custody until at least July 2, according to Russian state media.

Why it matters: Griner has been in pre-trial detention since she was detained at a Moscow-area airport in February after authorities claimed that they found vape cartridges with cannabis oil in her luggage.

  • She was charged with drug smuggling, and her detention has now been extended two times.
  • The U.S. State Department considers Griner "wrongfully detained" by Russia.
  • It has also warned other Americans to not travel to Russia because the Kremlin may be specifically targeting Americans for arrest, potentially for the purpose of exchanging them for Russians held in American prisons.

The big picture: Former Marine Trevor Reed, who was held in a Russian prison since 2019 before being released in April, called on the Biden administration and Congress last week to increase efforts to release Griner, even if it means more prisoner swaps.

  • Reed warned that Griner may face greater challenges inside Russia's prison system than he did because of her race and sexual orientation.

Go deeper: Brittney Griner's wife urges Biden to bring detained player home

Go deeper

Griner's wife, Cherelle, asked for privacy during negotiations, and delicate negotiations were ongoing to get Griner home safely.

Title:

Content: The problem is not just what happened to Brittney Griner. The problem is that we don’t know what is happening to Brittney Griner now. The WNBA superstar was allegedly caught with hashish oil in her luggage at a Russian airport and has been in custody for several weeks. For those first couple of weeks, it was as if no one noticed she was missing, no small feat for an athlete who is six foot nine and one of the most recognizable players in the history of the game. She also is also well-known in Russia, where she plays for UMMC Ekaterinburg in the WNBA off season. In 2021 she helped the Russian team win its fifth EuroLeague Women’s championship. (Many WNBA players hoop in Russia during the off-season, as they need to supplement their income, an injustice in and of itself.)

Almost certainly, instead of creating an immediate public outcry following her arrest, there were efforts behind the scenes to get her out of Russia, which, we know now, was preparing to invade Ukraine. The goal would have been to make this go away without provoking an international incident. Well, it’s too late for that now. There are online petitions and a predictable uproar given the anti-Putin sentiment in the States. Griner’s wife, Cherelle Griner, posted a picture of them together on Instagram as the news spread over the weekend. She thanked their fans and then wrote, “I understand that many of you have grown to love BG over the years and have concerns and want details. Please honor our privacy as we continue to work on getting my wife home safely.”

In other words, delicate negotiations to get Griner home are almost certainly ongoing in a situation that is spiraling. Griner is detained in Russia at a moment when US-Russian relations are at their worst since Ronald Reagan joked, “We begin bombing in five minutes.” When and how she gets home and how she is being treated right now are anyone’s guess. As basketball writer Tom Ziller put it, “We don’t have an idea as the public WNBA fandom where Griner is, or how she is doing, or how long she has been detained, or the circumstances of her custody, or what she knows about a timeline for being released, or what she’s being told. We don’t really know anything, and we don’t know whether she or those close to her know anything.”

Whether it started this way or not, we need to understand Griner as a political prisoner. It may have started with airport racial profiling and the idiotic war on cannabis. But now, by the nature of this perilous moment, she has become a chit, a leverage point, in a larger political war.

The WNBA and Griner’s team, the Phoenix Mercury, are being tight-lipped about the situation—as is the US State Department. But I did reach the coauthor of Griner’s 2014 memoir In My Skin: My Life On and Off the Basketball Court, Sue Hovey. The former ESPN The Magazine executive editor told me: “Brittney Griner is one of the most resilient, mentally tough athletes I’ve ever met. When she led Baylor to a perfect season and the national championship in 2012, she did so while having to endure a torrent of vicious verbal attacks from opposing fans and online trolls. People forget that when she graduated from Baylor in 2013 and publicly came out as gay upon entering the WNBA, that was still a big deal at the time; it wasn’t nearly as common as it is today for athletes to reveal their authentic selves. Brittney was, and continues to be, a trailblazer in eschewing gender norms. Even eight years after her memoir was published, I still get the occasional Twitter message from a college student who read her book in a gender studies class, or just a fan expressing gratitude for Brittney sharing her story. Like many athletes, she has had some stumbles and controversy along the way, but she always takes accountability and shows a willingness to learn and grow. And in an age of curated social media content, there’s something refreshing about a high-profile athlete who gives us that three-dimensional view. She’s relatable and human, and that resonates with people.”

It is absolutely true that Griner resonates with people, and now many of her fans are up in arms. If the goal was to quietly negotiate Griner’s return, those days are done. At this point, there is really no choice but to shine the brightest possible light on this political injustice and demand that she be sent home. Political prisoners are rarely freed easily. It requires—and demands—an international response. Brittney Griner is a basketball titan who deserves more than to be treated like a pawn.

Griner was considered a political prisoner and leverage point, and the US State Department was being tight-lipped about the situation.

Griner pleaded guilty to drug charges in Russia, but her lawyers expected leniency due to her guilty plea.

Title:

Content: Brittney Griner to make another court appearance at a hearing in Russia

The content originally appeared on: CNN

CNN

WNBA star Brittney Griner is expected to make another court appearance Thursday, a week after she pleaded guilty to drug charges at a Russian court near Moscow.

The two-time US Olympic basketball gold medalist was arrested February 17 at a Moscow airport, a week before Russia invaded Ukraine. Russian authorities claimed she had cannabis oil in her luggage and accused her of smuggling significant amounts of a narcotic substance, an offense punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

The hearing comes as many in the WNBA, along with other athletes, coaches and politicians, have called for Griner’s release over fears she is being used as a political pawn amid the war in Ukraine. The US State Department has classified Griner as wrongfully detained.

Griner also wrote a letter to President Joe Biden in which she said she fears she will be detained in Russia indefinitely and pleaded for the President not to forget about her or other American detainees.

“I realize you are dealing with so much, but please don’t forget about me and the other American Detainees. Please do all you can to bring us home,” Griner wrote. “I voted for the first time in 2020 and I voted for you. I believe in you. I still have so much good to do with my freedom that you can help restore.”

It is unclear if the hearing on Thursday will lead to a verdict or if the trial could drag into additional hearings. Griner admitted guilt in the last hearing but told the court that she had not intended to commit a crime, state news agency RIA Novosti reported.

During Thursday’s hearing, the court could force the defense to expand further on her intention, or they could move on to sentencing her, US officials said.

Griner’s lawyers expect the court to take into account the 31-year-old athlete’s guilty plea and hope for leniency, Alexander Boykov and Maria Blagovolina told journalists last week.

Samples taken from Griner did not show any traces of drugs, Boykov added. “She was clean, and she was tested,” the lawyer said.

Griner’s legal team said it was her decision to plead guilty, adding that she “sets an example of being brave.”

“She decided to take full responsibility for her actions as she knows that she is a role model for many people,” their statement read.

“Considering the nature of her case, the insignificant amount of the substance and BG’s personality and history of positive contributions to global and Russian sport, the defense hopes that the plea will be considered by the court as a mitigating factor and there will be no severe sentence.”

Her lawyers said they expect the trial to end around the beginning of the August.

CNN’s Kylie Atwood, Rosa Flores, Jacqueline Rose, Alexa Miranda, Abby Phillip, Dakin Andone and Alaa Elassar contributed to this report.

The US State Department classified Griner as wrongfully detained, and she wrote a letter to President Joe Biden for help.

The Biden administration offered to release Viktor Bout for Griner, and Russia used Griner as a bargaining chip in international relations.

Title:

Content: Skip to main content

Court Upholds Conviction of Brittney Griner as WNBA Star Faces Years of Prison Time in Russia

Brittney Griner

A court in Russia rejected on Tuesday incarcerated WBA star Brittney Griner’s appeal of her 9-year prison sentence for carrying a small amount of hashish oil.

The court did rule to recalculate Griner’s prison sentence based on her pre-trial detention, according to The Associated Press. For every one day in custody before trial, she will get credited for 1.5 days in prison. That reportedly means she will spend about eight years in prison.

Griner, 32, is currently at a penal colony outside of Moscow, according to the AP.

She was arrested at Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow on Feb. 17. She reportedly had less than a gram of cannabis oil inside vape canisters in her luggage. Griner, a center for the WBA’s Phoenix Mercury, had been returning to Russia, where she played in the offseason.

She reportedly testified that she did have the canisters in her luggage, but she said she did not mean to bring them. She packed them by accident, in a rush, Griner said.

The defense, which said Griner was prescribed the hashish oil to treat pain, had called the 9-year sentence excessive, adding that people in similar cases received an average of five years behind bars. A third of the defendants got parole, the defense argued.

Critics of the Russian regime say Moscow is only using Griner as a bargaining chip in international relations. She was arrested just days before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“We are aware of the news out of Russia that Brittney Griner will continue to be wrongfully detained under intolerable circumstances after having to undergo another sham judicial proceeding today,” National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said in a statement released through the White House. “President Biden has been very clear that Brittney should be released immediately. In recent weeks, the Biden-Harris Administration has continued to engage with Russia through every available channel and make every effort to bring home Brittney as well as to support and advocate for other Americans detained in Russia, including fellow wrongful detainee Paul Whelan. The President has demonstrated that he is willing to go to extraordinary lengths and make tough decisions to bring Americans home, as his Administration has done successfully from countries around the world. The Administration remains in regular touch with representatives of the families, and we continue to admire their courage in the face of these unimaginable circumstances.”

The Biden administration has offered to release convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout in exchange for the releases of both Griner and Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine convicted in an espionage case. The U.S. State Department spokesman said Whelan was “wrongfully detained,” according to CNN.

“There is such a human side to BG that a lot of people on the outside don’t know,” former USA Basketball head coach Dawn Staley told ESPN in a recent profile for Griner’s Oct. 18 birthday. “I wish that a lot of people were able to see that and could express themselves with the honesty that Brittney does.”

Staley coached Griner as part of the gold medal-winning US teams in the 2018 FIBA World Cup and the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Brianna Turner, a teammate on the Mercury, recalled joining teammates in a visit to Griner and Griner’s wife Cherelle Griner’s home.

“We played with their dogs, watched TV and reminisced more about our season,” she told ESPN. “BG nonchalantly had her most recent Olympic gold medal laying out on her coffee table, and I made sure to take a selfie with it as if I had just won gold and was standing on a podium. But that’s just the type of person BG is: humble and welcoming to those around her. I hold on so hard to those memories of that evening. It’s wild to think that I last saw her in person a year ago; her birthday is obviously so different this time around. I was able to send her a letter, though, and hopefully she will receive it on birthday. So many people that don’t personally know BG have so many various opinions about her. But I can honestly say BG is probably the warmest person I know. Her energy is infectious, and she is the first person willing to help someone in need.”

[Image via EVGENIA NOVOZHENINA/POOL/AFP]

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Griner's detention highlighted the disparity in pay between NBA and WNBA players, and her case sparked calls for her release using the hashtag #FreeBrittney.

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Where does wrongful detention of Brittney Griner go from here?

She will inevitably be labeled a hostage

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Brittney Griner

It seems like years rather than weeks ago that American political prisoner, Trevor Reed, was released from Russia in a prisoner swap. It also seems like years since an American citizen, basketball superstar Brittney Griner, was taken into custody in Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport for allegedly having hashish oil in her possession.

We now know what many of us believed all along – that Brittney Griner was, in the far too late proclamation by the U.S. government, “wrongfully detained.” In diplomacy-speak, wrongfully detained is synonymous with politically detained, which is super close to what will soon enough inevitably happen – calling Brittney Griner a hostage.

Since the beginning of Griner’s detention, I have done dozens of print, radio, TV, and related interviews, and I have a pretty clear view of how and why we got here.

As I wrote around six weeks ago, if we read between the lines of what’s being said in traditional and social media, we can extract three key reasons why the Griner situation isn’t getting the attention that it should be and would be if it was a different athlete.

The first reason is that Brittney Griner is not a terribly high-profile athlete.

This is patently untrue. As I have been commenting from the minute we learned that she was taken into custody by the Russians, Griner was absolutely the highest-profile American athlete that Russia could have taken into custody as they were preparing for their brutal invasion of Ukraine.

The only other high-profile athletes playing in Russia or transiting through at that time were the very few American players in Russia’s top hockey league, the KHL. None are superstars in their sport, as Griner is.

The second argument for why Griner isn’t getting the attention she should be is that she is LGBTQ.

I have argued that this is a reasonably good hypothesis. It just seems that a straight athlete would be getting a lot more attention and public sympathy than Griner has, in part, yet not in full, because of her sexual orientation. That’s a remarkably harsh position to have to take in 2022, yet it’s clear that Griner doesn’t fit the mold of what many Americans see as that all-American athlete. That one’s sexual or gender orientation should drive the American public’s level of sympathy for one of their own top athletes is a shame, but here we are.

The third and most commonly cited reason for Brittany Griner getting less attention than another athlete in a similar situation is that she’s Black.

This argument holds little weight with me. Yes, it makes sense that in comparison to a high-profile white athlete, some people are simply going to care less about a Black athlete. Again, that’s a harsh analysis, yet not unaligned with many things going on in the nation today.

But I think this is a reductive argument that crumbles under the weight of the analogy that I usually use during TV and radio broadcasts about the Griner case – and that is, what if this was Kyrie Irving?

I like to use Kyrie Irving as an analogy because he is a highly controversial Black athlete. Obviously, NBA players don’t have to have second jobs in places like Russia, Turkey, and China, to make ends meet, as the WNBA women do. But just imagine that Kyrie Irving was traveling alone through Moscow airport. If Irving had been taken into custody by the Russians, I can guarantee that this would be front-page news not just in the sports section but on the front page of all significant papers practically every day. That simply hasn’t been the case with Brittney Griner.

Every day, I am asked where this goes from here. With Griner’s May 19 hearing delayed “one month” (though at the time of writing, no date has been set), I remained convinced of two things: that this goes to a worse place than we are now and that it progresses painfully slowly.

As to the first point, to maximize leverage over the United States, it’s likely that Griner will end up somewhere like a Russian labor camp before she ever steps back into the United States. While Russia does not follow the Rule of Law, it would be neither legally nor politically expedient to just hold Griner in a Moscow jail or prison indefinitely. They need to make her situation worse to turn up the urgency of the case for the American government.

But this indeed won’t happen overnight. As I’ve also been saying all along, the next hearing date will also be delayed, OR we will learn through a TASS Russian media release that Griner was tried, found guilty of all charges, and sentenced (see labor camp, above).

As to what each of us can do, my advice remains the same: Keep talking about it. Make this Brittney as viral as Britney Spears was a year ago. Just as Britney Spears’ freedom from her conservatorship was turbo-charged by the #FreeBritney hashtag, let’s #FreeBrittney now.

This is significantly less trite than it sounds. There is no indication that the American government doesn’t want you to forget about Brittney Griner. As former hostage Jason Rezaian discussed on an excellent recent Washington Post podcast, he always “calls BS” on those parties, saying we should keep detentions such as Griner’s out of the public spotlight. He advocates being as loud as we can be on this, which is why I keep doing interviews on this issue as much as possible.

Ultimately, Brittney Griner will be a political prisoner until the United States and Russia can decide, in crass basketball terms, on a fair player trade. On Friday, we learned that the two sides might actually be in discussions now for a trade involving Griner for notorious convicted arms trafficker Viktor Bout, aka the “Merchant of Death.”

Unless this can re-enter and remain in the public spotlight, along with any pressure on the government, Britney Griner will not get the treatment she deserves as one of the greatest basketball players of her generation. That the massive disparity between how NBA and WNBA players are compensated laid the foundation for her to be in this position is the harsh reality these leagues face today. Yet it pales compared to the uncertain reality Griner faces today in a Moscow jail.

A Pulitzer Prize-nominated writer, Aron Solomon, JD, is the chief legal analyst for Today’s Esquire. He has taught entrepreneurship at McGill University and the University of Pennsylvania, and was elected to Fastcase 50, recognizing the top 50 legal innovators in the world.

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Leave no one behind: Building an LGBTQ+ movement for all

A just society is only achievable by investing in dignity of the marginalized

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Despite the expansion of LGBTQ+ civil rights and liberties in D.C., some of which we proudly attribute to GLAA’s stalwart activism for the past 51 years, the most vulnerable members of our community continue to suffer from poverty, homelessness, criminalization, discrimination, social isolation, and preventable death. A jaw-dropping 40% of homeless youth in the U.S. identify as LGBTQ+, LGBTQ+ people experience hunger at twice the rate of straight people, and right here in D.C., the Office of Human Rights reports that employers are more likely to interview a less-qualified cisgender job applicant than a more-qualified transgender applicant.

So for our 2022 candidate ratings, GLAA decided to emphasize that racial and economic justice are LGBTQ+ justice issues. While we recognize the importance of openly LGBTQ+ candidates, we know one’s identity does not indicate where they stand on critical issues. Something many of us have learned the hard way, and something GLAA leadership recognizes not championing sooner as a mistake. What matters most is a candidate’s demonstrated record and vision to support the LGBTQ+ community in its entirety.

It is not enough for candidates to respond only to the needs of those who historically have held the most power in the LGBTQ+ community, particularly white cisgender gay men, in order to tout support of the entire community. The LGBTQ+ community is so many different people, and it is time we push candidates to consider and address us in our entirety. For too long, many LGBTQ+ people have felt rejected and betrayed by our community’s movement priorities, narratives about what our community stands for, and decisions on who is valued and who is selected to represent or lead us. And, while GLAA understands no one politician or organization can erase these community divides, we aim to be intentional in our approach to dismantle that which stands in our entire community’s way toward liberation. That is why, in 2022 we decided to rate candidates on their responses and records of support on issues that impact the most marginalized members of the LGBTQ+ community. None of us is free until all of us are free.

Throughout GLAA’s history we have focused on securing LGBTQ+ rights, which have mostly strengthened the legal protections of people privileged enough to take advantage of them. GLAA decided to focus the Leave No One Behind: 2022 Election Guide and questionnaire on racial and economic justice with an LGBTQ+ lens. We did this to build on our victories, such as successfully advocating for the defunding of the Metropolitan Police Department’s vice squad in the 1970s, and to learn from our mistakes.

It is our belief that a just, peaceful, and vibrant society is only achievable by actively investing in the security and dignity of the poor and marginalized members of all our communities. Our questionnaire intentionally acts in solidarity with D.C. anti-poverty, anti-stigma, and anti-overdose campaigns, which are largely led by trans and queer people of color.

Ratings are on a scale of +/-10 points: yes/no responses on questionnaire (+/-2); substance of response (+/-4); and candidate’s public record (+/-4). Candidates earned partial credit for the yes/no category if they partially agreed with the question. Four issues received more than 91% agreement: increasing the affordable housing stock for the poorest residents, housing people using government funded vouchers, fully funding the Office of Human Rights, and better oversight to improve conditions in the DC Jail.

Three issues received 70-79% candidates’ support, and over 90% when including candidates who issued partial support: Repealing the sub-minimum wage, decriminalization of drug use, and reducing the population of D.C. jail by 30%.

Finally, the least supported policies were decriminalization of consensual sex work and divesting from the Metropolitan Police Department and investing in violence prevention and recidivism prevention programs. Even still, there was remarkable consensus: over 2/3 or 66% of candidates who issued total or partial support.

We are encouraged by the remarkable level of consensus on all of our issues, signaling that D.C. is ready for transformative change that at its core addresses the District’s current poverty, unaffordable housing, community and police-based violence, and overdose crises.

GLAA is excited to see more LGBTQ+ people on ballots. More exciting, however, is the number of politicians with fully realized and integrated LGBTQ+ policies in their platforms. Policies that extend across race and class lines. GLAA firmly believes all people, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, can be stewards of LGBTQ+ liberation. It is our hope that readers find these ratings not as endorsements, but as a starting point to imagine what is possible if local officials are guided by D.C. residents to use their elected power to create new possibilities that leave no one behind.

This opinion piece was signed by the 2022 Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance board of directors.

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GLAA has lost its way and should close

Their ratings no longer make an iota of difference in an election

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(Blade file photo by Pete Exis)

The Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance (GLAA), once a respected organization, has now lost its way. It once represented all the members of the LGBTQ+ community, clearly no longer the case, as one can tell based on their questionnaire and ratings. They now represent only the far left in the community and are seeking to represent more than LGBTQ+ people as the statement from their current president suggests. That is not the role of GLAA.

One of the questions in this year’s questionnaire that candidates were asked to respond to is: “Do you support divesting from the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) to further invest in vital programs, including anti-poverty, violence prevention, crisis intervention, and reentry?” If you didn’t say yes, you lost points. This shows how out of touch they are as the DC Council just voted unanimously, on a first vote, to raise the budget of the MPD. The approved budget also includes increased funding for other vital programs. There’s no indication GLAA ever spoke to Council members on this issue.

Its website lists five officers, all men, with a blurb on each. The one for the president, in addition to listing past and current employment, says, “When he is not organizing, he loves asking people about their Myers Briggs Type (he is ENFP, for the record), doing gay crimes (the basics like drugs and public sex), having Spicy Vanilla sex, dancing to hot beats on the dance floor, practicing vulnerability, plotting revolution against capitalism and other forms of oppression.” He is entitled to his views. But I question how his leading the GLAA represents the broader LGBTQ+ community.

Over the years I’ve had issues with some of what GLAA has done and some of the issues they focused on. But the organization always represented the entire spectrum of the LGBTQ+ community in their questionnaire. Candidates getting a rating from the organization could feel it represented a wide range of opinion in the community. I would hope no candidate tries to pawn the current ratings off as any kind of support from the broader LGBTQ + community.

In the past you always knew their officers, including Rick Rosendall, Bob Summersgill and Jeff Coudriet among others, were involved with D.C. government and knew the issues in-depth. They knew the candidates. Responding to their questionnaire over the years was always interesting. Rick often was the one who spent hours drafting the questions. I always wondered why it was never enough to say yes you agree with their premise. Instead, you had to say it in hundreds, even thousands, of words to earn points. I know as I have filled out questionnaires for many candidates.

Today their website lists nine project areas, none with anything accomplished since 2016. The blog has nothing on any recent budget issues or legislation pertaining to the LGBTQ+ community, only information about the questionnaire. They claim to lobby the Council and monitor government agencies, but there is no indication of any meetings or testimony since 2017.

We can thank GLAA for the fact that today no politician can win office in D.C. without being supportive of the LGBTQ community. However, today their ratings no longer make an iota of difference in an election. Since this is now the only thing they do it’s time to close up shop. We have moved past the time in D.C. when a small number of people can sit in a room rating candidates they don’t know, on issues that don’t represent the community they are supposed to be representing.

So personally, I say thank you to all the people who worked hard over many years for GLAA to help move the LGBTQ community forward. I recognize there is much work still to be done but GLAA is not the organization to do it. We must work to ensure economic and civil justice for all members of our community; health equity for transgender persons; senior housing for our community; and employment opportunities for all, among other issues. But there are other LGBTQ organizations, and community organizations, doing these things better and the few members GLAA might still have should be directed to those other organizations.

If as their website claims they are planning an anniversary celebration, it should be one to honor all the people who in the past 50 years of the organization, worked hard and were successful in making my life and the lives of so many LGBTQ people in the District of Columbia and around the nation better. That would be an exciting way to say goodbye and celebrate the organization whose time it is to close.

Peter Rosenstein is a longtime LGBTQ rights and Democratic Party activist. He writes regularly for the Blade.

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An unlikely revolution is happening at Christian universities

More than half have enacted LGBTQ non-discrimination policies

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Recent headlines have been filled with messages of doom and gloom for LGBTQ people. From bans on transgender women competing in sports to “don’t say gay” laws, it seems evident that conservative Republicans are freshly committed to rolling back the rights of LGBTQ people across the United States.

Yet, despite such recent setbacks, a student-led movement for LGBTQ inclusion is gaining ground in what would seem to be one of the unlikeliest settings — Christian colleges and universities.

Over the past few years, I’ve collected extensive data on U.S. Christian colleges and universities’ policies toward LGBTQ students. In one study, I found that 55% of all Christian colleges and universities in the United States have nondiscrimination policies inclusive of sexual orientation. In another recent study, I found that nearly half of all Christian colleges and universities are home to officially recognized LGBTQ student groups.

Even some of the most conservative Christian colleges and universities have changed their approach to LGBTQ students. When analyzing data collected in 2013, I found that nearly one-third of all Christian colleges and universities had adopted bans on so-called “homosexual acts” or “homosexual behavior” in their student handbooks. Yet, when reviewing Christian colleges and universities’ handbooks again over the past year, I found that under one-fourth of Christian colleges and universities had such discriminatory bans.

Why are some Christian colleges and universities becoming more accommodating—and even welcoming—to LGBTQ students?

There are several major reasons, but one of the most important is that several Christian denominations already embrace their LGBTQ members. Denominations such as the Episcopal Church, United Church of Christ, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Disciples of Christ, and Presbyterian Church USA, for example, allow ministers to officiate same-sex weddings. An increasing number of nondenominational churches also affirm LGBTQ people. Those Christian colleges and universities that are already associated with affirming denominations are certainly among the most likely to affirm their LGBTQ students.

Another reason that many Christian colleges and universities are becoming welcoming toward LGBTQ students is that they do not necessarily believe their primary mission is to hold all students to the specific religious tenets of their associated denomination. Rather, they see their primary mission as providing an important service (education) to the broader society. Just as Christian hospitals do not refuse to provide medical treatment to people who are not members of their associated denominations, many Christian colleges and universities have chosen not to deny people an education simply because certain people are not members of their associated denominations.

A rising number of Christian colleges and universities also recognize the harms that occur when people are discriminated against on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. A recent survey by Religious Exemption Accountability Project shows that 12% of all Christian college and university students self-identify as LGBTQ. Because studies show that LGBTQ people in non-affirming Christian colleges and universities report greater rates of depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation, many Christian schools understand they would be harming a significant number of their students if they continued to discriminate against LGBTQ people.

And still other schools are simply concerned with their bottom lines. The United States is projected to go over a “demographic cliff” in 2025, at which time the number of 18-year-olds nationwide will drop dramatically. Some reports say that one-third of all private colleges and universities nationwide will face major financial crises over the next decade, causing them to close or pursue mergers. Many Christian colleges and universities recognize that adopting discriminatory policies toward LGBTQ students would alienate significant portions of their potential student body.

Certainly, despite these encouraging trends, those who are committed to LGBTQ rights should not be complacent. Many schools have still been slow to extend nondiscrimination protections and housing accommodations to trans students. And the Religious Exemption Accountability Project estimates that as many as 100,000 LGBTQ students are currently enrolled at Christian colleges and universities that still refuse to affirm the dignity and rights of LGBTQ people. That organization recently filed a class-action lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education, challenging the federal government’s policy of providing loans even to Christian colleges and universities that otherwise violate Title IX protections for LGBTQ students.

It is likely the case that some Christian colleges and universities will not change their policies toward LGBTQ rights unless they are legally required to do so. Still, at Christian colleges and universities across the United States, LGBTQ students are not waiting around. LGBTQ students are actively mobilizing to bring about inclusive policies at their schools, and at a surprising number of schools, they are succeeding.

Jonathan S. Coley is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Oklahoma State University and a Public Fellow at the Public Religion Research Institute.

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The US government's handling of Griner's case may impact her chances of being released, and Griner may be labeled a hostage by the US government.

Russia may use Griner as leverage over the US, and Griner's case is not getting enough attention due to her sexual orientation and being a female athlete.

The US government was in discussions for a trade involving Griner for Viktor Bout, and Griner's case tied to geopolitical tensions between US and Russia.

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Content: Skip to main content

Russian court sentences Brittney Griner to 9 years, raising pressure on Biden

A Russian court Thursday sentenced U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner to nine years in a penal colony after convicting her on a drug charge, a harsh penalty that keeps her fate entwined with the geopolitical showdown over the war in Ukraine and ramps up already intense pressure on President Joe Biden to win her release.

The U.S. government contends that she is among several Americans who have been “wrongfully detained” by Russia, used as bargaining chips in the increasingly hostile relationship between Moscow and Washington. The Biden administration has offered a prisoner swap involving Griner, but Russian officials said it was premature to discuss a deal while her case was underway.

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Now that the trial is concluded, Biden faces a difficult choice between standing firm on his proposal to trade for Griner and another American, Paul Whelan, or sweetening the offer somehow, with either position liable to draw domestic criticism.

Meanwhile the Kremlin can use them as leverage, with no incentive to resolve the cases quickly. Griner’s supporters, voicing horror at the verdict and sentence, are clamoring for the president to do something, while the administration is wary of giving in to Russian tactics it has all but labeled blackmail.

“My administration will continue to work tirelessly and pursue every possible avenue to bring Brittney and Paul Whelan home safely as soon as possible,” Biden said in a statement after the verdict.

Griner, 31, one of her sport’s biggest global stars, sat mostly expressionless, eyes downcast, leaning her long frame toward the bars of the defendant’s box in a cramped courtroom outside Moscow to hear as the words of the judge, Anna Sotnikova, were quietly translated for her. She had already pleaded guilty, and conviction is all but certain in Russian courts, so the verdict was a foregone conclusion; the real question was about sentencing.

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The answer was devastating. The sentence was near the 10-year maximum for her conviction for attempting to smuggle narcotics into the country, based on two vape cartridges containing hashish oil found in Griner’s luggage when she arrived in February, a week before President Vladimir Putin sent Russian forces to Ukraine.

She and her legal team had hoped for a more lenient penalty based on her guilty plea, her statement that she had not meant to take the cartridges to Russia, and testimony that she used the substance legally in the United States to manage pain.

“I made an honest mistake, and I hope that in your ruling that it doesn’t end my life here,” she said before the sentencing.

She told the court that while she took responsibility for her actions, “I had no intent to break Russian law.” She said that after recovering from a bout of COVID, she had packed hurriedly to rejoin the Russian team she plays for in the WNBA offseason, and had accidentally left the cartridges in her luggage.

Griner’s defense team called the ruling “absolutely unreasonable,” said the court had “completely ignored all the evidence of the defense, and most importantly, the guilty plea,” and vowed to appeal. Elizabeth Rood, deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, attended the court session and called the result “a miscarriage of justice.”

Russian officials have insisted that Griner’s case is simply the justice system running its course, with no political overtones — a claim that their U.S. counterparts and many Western analysts dismissed as absurd.

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William Pomeranz, a Russia expert and acting director of the Kennan Institute, a research group in Washington, noted that Griner was sentenced not to a prison but to a penal colony, which tends to mean a more remote location — many are in Siberia — and harsher conditions.

“She’s probably going to go to a penal colony that’s in the middle of Russia where she won’t know anybody,” he added. “They won’t be able to come and visit. Penal colonies can sometimes be very severe. It will be a tremendous test of her mental state if she ends up going to a penal colony.”

The United States has few options, he said. “It will just depend on the Russians and how fast they want to make a deal.”

Fellow basketball players, male and female, and basketball executives took to social media to voice support for Griner and grief at the verdict. Griner’s team, the Phoenix Mercury, said in a statement: “We remain heartbroken for her, as we have every day for nearly six months. We remain grateful to and confident in the public servants working every day to return her to her family and us.”

With Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and the indiscriminate destruction it has caused, relations between Washington and Moscow are more confrontational and bitter than they have been in decades. The United States has rallied the West to send arms and other aid to Ukraine, and to punish Moscow with economic sanctions, looking for opportunities to ratchet up the pressure.

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The two sides have made prisoner exchanges before, most recently in April, when Russia released Trevor Reed, an American held on what his family said was a bogus assault charge, in return for a Russian pilot convicted in the United States of cocaine trafficking charges. But rarely have proposed swaps come amid such tension, or involved anyone as prominent as Griner.

In a sign of how high the stakes are for Washington, Griner’s fate was among the topics discussed last Friday by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, in their first direct conversation since before the invasion.

The Biden administration has offered to trade Griner and Whelan for Viktor Bout, who is serving a 25-year sentence for a 2011 conviction on a federal charge of conspiring to sell weapons to people posing as terrorists intent on killing Americans. Whelan, detained in Russia since 2018, was convicted of espionage and sentenced to 16 years.

Russia made an unspecified “bad faith” counteroffer, the White House said Monday, which U.S. officials said they did not consider serious.

John Kirby, spokesperson for the National Security Council, told reporters Thursday, “I don’t think it would be helpful to Brittney or to Paul for us to talk more publicly about where we are in the talks and what the president might or might not be willing to do.”

“Conversations are ongoing at various levels,” he added.

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If Biden sticks to his initial offer, he could face accusations of not doing enough.

Griner’s wife, Cherelle Griner, and other supporters have mounted an effective public campaign to pressure the president to win her release. Supporters worry about her treatment in a country where anti-American and anti-gay vitriol are deeply embedded in popular views and official propaganda. Images of a grim-faced Griner being led, handcuffed, in and out of court, towering over her armed guards, have become commonplace in U.S. and international media.

The administration could make a more attractive offer, but U.S. officials already worry that deals for prisoners could encourage hostile foreign governments to detain Americans on trumped-up charges in exchange for concessions like freeing their own wrongdoers. Some Republicans have already complained that Biden’s existing offer creates such an incentive.

A 6-foot-9 center, Griner won a college national championship with Baylor in 2012, a WNBA championship with the Mercury in 2014, Olympic gold medals with the U.S. team at the 2016 and 2020 games, and four EuroLeague championships with the Russian team UMMC Yekaterinburg. Like many players in the WNBA, where salaries are much lower than in the NBA, Griner — who also played one season for a professional team in China — has played overseas to supplement her income.

Griner was sentenced to 9 years in a Russian penal colony, and the US government considered her detention wrongful.

The Biden administration offered a prisoner swap for Griner and Paul Whelan, but Russia made a "bad faith" counteroffer to the US proposal.

Griner's case has sparked online petitions and public outcry, with 64,192 signatures on a Change.org petition.

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Content: MadameNoire Featured Video

Source: Mike Mattina / Getty

A court in Moscow has extended the detention of WNBA player Brittney Griner, according to Russian state-owned news agency TASS

Griner, 31, was detained at a Moscow airport on Feb. 17 and arrested on drug smuggling charges. Despite being one of the WNBA’s most recognizable athletes, the basketball player’s detainment in Russia thus far has had some refer to her as a political hostage, due to it preceding Russia’s increased tensions with the United States over the invasion of Ukraine.

As MADAMENOIRE previously reported, Russian authorities claim the basketball star’s luggage contained vape cartridges containing oil derived from cannabis.

CNN noted the situation’s more recent development and that according to TASS “The court granted the request of the investigation and extended the period of detention of the U.S. citizen Griner until May 19.”

Tom Firestone, a former U.S. Justice Department legal resident advisor to the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, shared with ESPN that delay for more investigation time in Griner’s case is standard in Russia and that the player could be held without trial anywhere from 12-18 months.

If found guilty, the Phoenix Mercury player faces up to 10 years in Russian prison.

While the situation may seem bleak, Griner has received tons of support from those anticipating her safe return.

A Change.org petition created by sports writer Tamryn Spruill now has 64,192 signatures.

On March 7, Griner’s wife Cherelle penned a message on social media to the basketball player that read,” We love you babe! People say ‘stay busy.’ Yet, there’s not a task in this world that could keep any of us from worrying about you. My heart, our hearts, are all skipping beats every day that goes by. I miss your voice. I miss your presence. You’re our person! There are no words to express this pain. I’m hurting, we’re hurting. We await the day to love on you as a family ♥.”

We’ll keep you updated as this story progresses.

RELATED CONTENT: “Freeing Brittney Griner From Russian Detainment Could Be A ‘Very Difficult’ Task”

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Griner's detention preceded Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and Russian authorities were investigating Griner's case.

Griner was detained in Russia on drug charges, and she faces up to 10 years in prison.

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Griner testifies in Russia as U.S. offers deal

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STORY: U.S. basketball player Brittney Griner testified in a Russian court Wednesday that her rights weren't read when she was detained at a Moscow airport in February

"No, my rights were never read to me. No one explained any of it to me."

Griner is on trial for drug charges that could cost her up to 10 years in prison.

The 31-year-old WNBA star plays in Russia during the league's offseason. She was detained when agents found vape cartridges containing hashish oil in her luggage.

Griner said in court Wednesday that she was not provided with an interpreter and did not understand what papers she was made to sign.

"I can only assume they were about the search and the cartridges. We had to use my phone and Google Translate for him to be able to tell me a little bit."

Griner pleaded guilty earlier in the trial but denied she intended to break Russian law.

She said on Wednesday that she still did not understand how the vape cartridges could have ended up in her luggage, saying she had packed hurriedly and could accidentally have included them.

Griner said she had been prescribed medical cannabis in the US to treat chronic injuries - but it is illegal in Russia.

The case against her has highlighted strained relations between Russia and the United States that have plunged to their lowest since the Cold War over the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

U.S. officials say Griner has been wrongly detained and called for her immediate release.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday the US had made a "substantial offer" to bring home Griner and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, convicted in Russia of spying.

"We want to see those who are wrongfully detained be released and be able to return home. At the same time, it's important that we work to reinforce the global norm against these arbitrary detentions."

The Kremlin has said the case against her has nothing to do with politics and that she should be tried for violating Russian law.

Griner pleaded guilty but denied intentional law breaking, and US officials called Griner's detention wrongful.

The US made a deal offer to bring Griner home, and Griner was prescribed medical cannabis in the US.

Cannabis is illegal in Russia, and Griner's case highlights US-Russia strained relations.

The US-Russia relations were at the lowest since the Cold War, and the Kremlin claims Griner's case is not political.

Griner was eventually released from prison on December 8, 2022, in a prisoner swap for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

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Content: Breaking

WNBA Star Brittney Griner Released From Russian Captivity in Prisoner Swap

Months after being sentenced to 9 years in prison, WNBA star Brittney Griner was released from Russian detention and is "on her way home," President Joe Biden shared on Dec. 8.

By Jess Cohen, Emlyn Travis Dec 08, 2022 1:33 PMTags
Watch: Brittney Griner: Russia Ready to Discuss Prisoner Swap

After months of heartache, Brittney Griner is officially free.

The WNBA star has been released after 294 days in Russian captivity, a senior administration official announced on Dec. 8. Griner—who was found guilty on drug charges by a Russian court and sentenced to 9 years in prison in August—was traded for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who was 11 years into a 25 year sentence.

Per the official, President Joe Biden signed off on the trade, which took place in the UAE. American businessman Paul Whelan was not included in the deal.

"Moments ago I spoke to Brittney Griner," the president tweeted Dec. 8 alongside photos of Brittney's wife Cherelle Griner and Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House. "She is safe. She is on a plane. She is on her way home."

This news comes nearly a year after the Phoenix Mercury center, who plays for a Russian team during the off-season, was arrested at Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport for allegedly possessing vape cartridges that contained cannabis oil in her luggage.

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Stars Arrested Fighting for a Cause

She was later charged with smuggling of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, their precursors or analogues, and with illegal acquisition, storage, transportation, manufacture, processing of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances or their analogues. During her trial on July 7, Brittney pled guilty to all of the charges but said that she did not act deliberately.

Instagram

"My parents taught me two important things," Brittney told the court through tears following closing arguments on Aug. 4. "Take ownership for your responsibilities and work hard for everything that you have. That's why I plead guilty to my charges. I understand the charges against me. I had no intent to break any Russian laws. I want the courts to understand it was an honest mistake."

She continued, "I never meant to hurt anybody. I never meant to break any Russian laws. I made an honest mistake and I hope that in your ruling that it doesn't end my life here."

Brittney had previously testified that she was legally prescribed medical marijuana by a doctor in the United States. She said she was going through airport security when a member of staff asked her to open her bag, which led to the discovery of the cartridges, per NBC News. After signing documents that she wasn't able to understand without Google Translate, the basketball player was able to call a lawyer before her phone was confiscated.

"At that point it felt like I was being held against my will," she said, according to the outlet. "I asked again what's going on and when can I see my lawyer. I was then told I have to be interrogated."

Instagram

Brittney's legal team later told E! News in a statement that they were "very disappointed" by the court's decision and planned to file an appeal.

"As legal professionals, we believe that the court should be fair to everyone regardless of nationality," they shared. "The court completely ignored all the evidence of the defense, and most importantly, the guilty plea. This contradicts the existing legal practice. Taking into account the amount of the substance (not to mention the defects of the expertise) and the plea, the verdict is absolutely unreasonable. We will certainly file an appeal."

Biden also shared his disappointment. "Russia is wrongfully detaining Brittney," he said in a statement. "It's unacceptable, and I call on Russia to release her immediately so she can be with her wife, loved ones, friends, and teammates."

The president kept in touch with Brittney and wrote her a letter shortly after the athlete sent an open letter to the White House, which arrived on July 4.

During a July 28 press conference, Secretary of State Antony Blinken shared that the administration had "put a substantial proposal on the table weeks ago to facilitate" the release of Brittney and Whelan, per NBC News. "Our governments have communicated repeatedly and directly on that proposal, and I'll use the conversation to follow up personally and, I hope, move us toward a resolution."

Throughout her time in prison, Brittney has received steadfast support from her wife Cherelle as well as fellow athletes including Stephen Curry, Megan Rapinoe and more.

"I have to walk the fine line of harm versus help when it comes to my wife right now," Cherelle told CBS Mornings on July 5. "So, as much as I want to advocate for her and push for our governments to do everything, I also have to take into account that she's in a position where she could be harmed also, by any and everything I do, and so, it's a thin line to walk."

For the latest breaking news updates, click here to download the E! News App

Griner's release was a result of the US government's persistent efforts, and she was finally able to return home after nearly a year in Russian prison.

Griner's wife, Cherelle, felt that Brittney was a hostage in Russia and was terrified for her safety, but was relieved when Brittney was finally released.

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Content: Cherelle Griner on Wife Brittney’s Russian Prison Sentence: Feels Like She’s a ‘Hostage’

WNBA star Brittney Griner’s wife, Cherelle, said Wednesday on “CBS Mornings” that it felt like Brittney Griner was a hostage in Russia after she was sentenced to nine years in prison in Russia for having cannabis vape cartridges in her luggage.

Griner’s appeal of her sentence has been scheduled for October 25.

Griner said, “It’s like a movie for me. I’m like, in no world did I ever thought our president and a foreign nation president would be sitting down having to discuss the freedom of my wife. So to me, as much as everybody’s telling me a different definition of what BG is, it feels to me as if she’s a hostage.”

Co-host Gayle King said, “That must scare you.”

Griner said, “It terrifies me because when you watch movies sometimes those situations don’t end well. Sometimes they never get the person back.”

King said, “This is not a movie, though. This is your life.”

Griner said, “Exactly, this is my life. And so I’m sitting here saying do we get her back? Do I get to see my wife again? Everything is so unprecedented. Everything is changeable, I think, is a really good word. I feel like every day I’m hearing something new.”

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After her release, Griner returned home, where she was welcomed back, and began to adjust to life after her experiences in the Russian prison system.

Title:

Content: When she finally returned home following a hellish prison stint in Russia, Brittney Griner’s trademark dreadlocks were gone. She looked like a different person without it, and more than a few folks were curious about the timing of her decision to cut it.

As it turns out, it had a lot to do with Griner’s survival instincts while inside the Russian penitentiary. The WNBA star did not cut her hair just because she wanted a new look, but apparently, the decision was made out of necessity.

Brittney’s Russian attorney, Maria Blagovolina, revealed that according to Griner herself, she cut out her dreads two weeks prior to her release because she feared that they would freeze during the long Russian winter:

“It’s very cold in there and every time she washed her hair she got cold and would get a chill,” Blagovolina said, via T.J. Quin of ESPN. “She should have waited until New Year’s Day.”

That’s actually very telling of Griner’s mindset in her final few weeks in prison. She did not know that her prison term was coming to an end and she was already preparing for the worst. This just goes to show how difficult life was for the Phoenix Mercury center inside the Russian penal colony. It’s also as if she had abandoned all hope that she was going to get out soon.

Fortunately, the U.S. government delivered on its promise to get Brittney Griner back before the New Year. It was a long and difficult process, no doubt, but the most important thing right now is that Brittney is finally home.

Griner's story sparked outrage in the United States, with many considering her detention unlawful, and the WNBA and US officials worked to secure her release.

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Content: Filed under:

Brittney Griner speaks to fans from her detention in Russian prison

On her 32nd birthday, Griner releases a statement to inform the #WeAreBG movement that their efforts are helping her cope.

It’s been tough to follow the story of Brittney Griner’s continued detention in Russia without feeling a sense of helplessness and wondering what can be done to help her. There have been few if any glimmers of hope in her situation — Russian prisons don’t really do hope.

But Griner just released a statement to her fans for the first time since she was arrested for possessing a vape pen with hashish oil back in February. And based on what she said, everyone’s efforts on her behalf are being heard and it is helping her make it through an otherwise bleak situation.

As CNN’s Ana Cabrera reported on Twitter, Griner’s message through her lawyer read: “Thank you everyone for fighting so hard to get me home. All the support and love are definitely helping me.”

Griner’s statement was sent out on her 32nd birthday on Tuesday. Throughout the day, the support and love she referenced was echoed throughout the sports world, with several prominent figures using their platform to amplify the #WeAreBG cause.

Billie Jean King reminded all of her followers that Griner has spent eight months living under unlawful detention.

The WNBA vowed to be front and center in continuing the fight to help secure her release and left it abundantly clear that there is a void in their league without her presence.

During the Golden State Warriors’ championship ring ceremony on their opening night, Stephen Curry told a capacity crowd that, “We want to continue to let her name be known…it’s been 243 days since she’s been wrongfully incarcerated in Russia. We hope that she comes home soon and everybody’s doing their part to get her home.”

Curry’s words were amplified by Christina Kahrl.

Finally, the Phoenix Mercury commemorated Griner’s birthday by showing everyone that although she’s being used as a pawn in a Kafkaesque nightmare, it’s important to remember all of her other qualities so that we never lose sight of her as a human being.

Let’s all keep fighting to ensure that we see that smile and that joy set free again very soon.

The US government considered Brittney Griner unjustly arrested by Russia and found that she was illegally detained.

Title:

Content: The U.S. government said WNBA star Britney Greiner was "unjustly arrested" by Russia in February.
The United States government believes that WNBA star Britney Grenier was unjustly arrested by Russia.
According to ESPN.
Greiner was accused of carrying e-cigarette cartridges containing cannabis oil concentrated in marijuana in her luggage in February and has not been allowed to leave Russia since then.
Rousse claims that Greiner is under investigation on charges of “large-scale drug trafficking – a crime for which in Russia you can get up to 10 years in prison. ”
The reason for the change of the case by the US government is not reported.
“The State Department found that the Russian Federation illegally detained a US citizen Britney Greiner.
In making this decision, the President ’ s Special Representative for Hostage Affairs, Roger Carstens, will lead the interagency task force to secure the release of Britney Greiner, ” a State Department spokesperson told ESPN.
.
That Grainer is being unjustly detained is a big step in the right direction towards bringing her home.
This means that the US government will immediately begin negotiations on his return to America.
Initially, the U.S. government had to wait for the next hearing in Russia on May 19 to begin negotiations with a foreign government for her release.
To show support for one of the league ’ s biggest stars, the WNBA announced on Tuesday that a Griner 42 floor-standing sticker will be placed in every stadium this season.
“With the start of the 2022 season, we ’ re keeping Britney at the forefront of what we ’ re doing in basketball and in society, ” WBA Commissioner Katie Engelbert said in a statement.
“We continue to work on bringing Britney home and appreciate the support provided by the BG community and her family during this very difficult time. ”
NHL players will miss the Olympics in Beijing

The US government started negotiations for Brittney Griner's return and believed she was being unjustly detained by Russia.

The Biden administration chose a one-for-one swap with Russia, which resulted in Viktor Bout being released in exchange for Brittney Griner.

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Inside Joe Biden’s Faustian pact with Russia to secure Brittney

Three weeks ago, the American basketball star Brittney Griner arrived at a Russian penal colony known for torture, beatings and slave labour to begin a nine-year sentence following her arrest at a Moscow airport in February for possession of vaping cartridges containing hashish oil.

But in a stunning twist on Thursday, Griner’s plight as an unwitting pawn in a high-stakes geopolitical struggle came to an abrupt end, as she arrived in Abu Dhabi from Moscow and boarded a plane home to reunite with her family. She landed in San Antonio, Texas, early Friday morning.

In exchange for Griner’s release, the US released Viktor Bout, a notorious arms trafficker who was serving a 25-year sentence for conspiring to kill US citizens and aiding a terrorist organisation.

The deal was met with jubilation from Griner’s family and supporters. But the controversial swap for Bout — as well as the exclusion of Paul Whelan, another US citizen imprisoned in Russia — also drew criticism and raised questions about how America’s adversaries might leverage arrests of its citizens in the future.

US officials began working toward Griner’s release as soon as she was apprehended in Russia in February, but the effort became more concentrated on prisoner swap negotiations once the State Department declared in May that she had been wrongfully detained.

In July, US secretary of state Antony Blinken and Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov spoke on the phone for the first time since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February. During the call, Blinken pressed Lavrov to accept a “substantial proposal” from Washington to release Griner and the former marine Whelan, who has been detained in Russia since 2018 on what the US and his family say are trumped-up espionage charges.

Americans had offered to free Bout, people familiar with the discussions said, but the Russians said they also wanted the release of Vadim Krasikov, a former colonel from Russia’s domestic spy agency who was convicted of murder in Germany last year.

In the ensuing months, officials said, Washington made a number of offers to Russia in an attempt to secure the release of Griner and Whelan.

However, Biden administration officials said that in recent weeks it became clear that Moscow would only accept a one-for-one swap. According to one senior administration official, “the choice was bringing Brittney Griner home right now or bringing no Americans home from Russia right now”.

Despite the Biden administration’s insistence that they had no choice but to exclude Whelan from the deal, Republican lawmakers and others denounced the decision, as well as facilitating the release of Bout, who is also known as “the merchant of death”.

“The Biden administration has allowed Viktor Bout, a dangerous arms dealer who was convicted of conspiring to kill American law enforcement, to walk free,” said Mike Rogers, the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee.

“This move to appease Vladimir Putin will only encourage further hostage taking by Russian security forces,” he added.

US officials described Biden’s choice as a painful one, adding that they would continue to work for Whelan’s release. Washington previously secured the release of Trevor Reed, another former marine, via a prisoner swap in April.

People familiar with Thursday’s prisoner exchange likened the episode to “a scene from the Cold War”, with Russian and American planes meeting on the tarmac at an airport in Abu Dhabi.

The Russian plane carrying Griner arrived first, one of the people said. American officials and people familiar with the events said the basketball star was upbeat on the tarmac, saying she was looking forward to returning home.

The Griner-Bout swap marks a rare instance in which the US and Russia have been able to find common ground since Putin ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, sending the west’s relationship with Moscow to its lowest ebb since the Cuban missile crisis.

According to people familiar with the matter, the Americans and Russians directly negotiated the details of the swaps, with UAE officials including president Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan helping to facilitate the mechanics of the transfer.

It is not unusual for third countries to aid in brokering international diplomatic agreements such as prisoner swaps between hostile countries.

Sheikh Mohammed and Putin discussed the matter when they met in Russia in October, and they spoke on the phone on Wednesday, people familiar with the meetings said. Yousef al-Otaiba, UAE ambassador to the US, was present for the exchange on Thursday and had helped to co-ordinate details on the American side.

On Thursday, some pro-Kremlin commentators hailed the swap as a return to diplomacy. “Everyone sees through this exchange that Moscow and Washington are holding secret negotiations and can make a deal,” Sergei Markov, a political scientist and former member of Russia’s parliament, wrote on Telegram. “And everyone hopes that means Moscow and Washington can make a deal to end the war in Ukraine.”

However, analysts and US officials said that while the breakthrough was a sign that the two sides could get things done when their interests align, it was not evidence of any larger thaw in relations. Biden administration officials added that the recent conversations with Russia about Griner and other prisoners were limited to the release of wrongfully detained Americans.

“The exchange doesn’t do anything to change the situation for bilateral relations. There are lots of issues where they are in open confrontation,” said Alexander Gabuev, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

He said the otherwise dire state of relations between Russia and the west was thrown into sharp relief last week, when Moscow abruptly pulled out of talks on renewing the New Start treaty, the only remaining agreement governing the countries’ nuclear arsenals.

“This is a global stability issue: the last remainders of arms control are falling apart, which could lead to an arms race and a higher risk of dangerous incidents,” he said. “The trajectory we’re on is making that all the more likely.”

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The US offered Viktor Bout for Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan in a proposed swap to facilitate their release.

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Content: US offers 'substantial' deal to swap Russian arms dealer for Griner, Whelan

By ANI | Published: July 28, 2022 02:38 PM 2022-07-28T14:38:16+5:30 2022-07-28T14:45:13+5:30

The United States has offered Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer known as the "Merchant of Death" in exchange for the release of US citizens Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan, both held by Moscow.

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The United States has offered Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer known as the "Merchant of Death" in exchange for the release of US citizens Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan, both held by Moscow.

Notably, Viktor Bout was given a 25-year prison sentence by the US in 2012.

The United States has put a "substantial proposal on the table" to facilitate the release of US citizens Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan, both held by Russia in what the US has termed "wrongful detention", US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said.

Blinken on Wednesday said that he would soon press for the Americans' return in his first conversation with his Moscow counterpart for the first time since the Ukraine war.

The US, for the first time, had confirmed that it had made proposals to Russia to release the American basketball star, Griner, who was detained for months in a drugs case and Whelan, sentenced to 16 years in prison on espionage charges in 2016, The New York Times reported.

The notion of trading Griner for Bout surfaced in Russian news media several weeks ago. US officials would not publicly discuss the idea at the time and stressed their concern about potentially incentivizing the detention of Americans abroad by foreign actors looking to win concessions.

However, on Wednesday, State Secretary said that the two countries had "communicated repeatedly and directly" about the proposal, though he would not provide details or describe the Russian response, saying he did not want to endanger sensitive negotiations with Moscow, reported The New York Times.

CNN was the first one to break the news that the United States, in June, offered to trade. Bout for Griner and Whelan. And US President Joe Biden, who has been under growing political pressure to free the Americans, backed the offer.

Blinken further said that he expected to talk with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov in the coming days and urge him to accept the proposal. The two ministers talked to each other before the Russia-Ukraine war, in January. Blinken avoided so much as shaking Lavrov's hand at a Group of 20 foreign ministers meeting in Bali earlier this month.

Biden has been under the pressure to secure the freedom of Griner in particular, whose wife, Cherelle, and several Democratic-aligned political groups have publicly urged him to strike a deal to win her release. Biden spoke to Cherelle Griner this month, according to The New York Times.

In mid-July, the Women's National Basketball Association players took to the court in Chicago at their All-star Game, wearing jerseys bearing Griner's number 42. The New York Times citing NBC News, reported that Trevor Reed, a former US Marine freed from a Russian prison in April after three years of detention, in which he said the White House was "not doing enough" to free Griner and Whelan.

In February, the Russian authorities detained Brittney Griner, on drug charges, after finding vape cartridges that contained hashish oil in her luggage while she was at an airport near Moscow.

In Russia, she was stopped at an airport near Moscow and since then, her detention has been repeatedly extended. Griner's trial began on July 1 and she pleaded guilty. Her lawyers have argued that the star had a medical prescription for the hashish oil and mistakenly carried the drug into Russia.

( With inputs from ANI )

Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor

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US President Joe Biden confirmed Brittney Griner's release and safety after she was freed from a Russian prison in exchange for Viktor Bout.

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Content: Brittney Griner freed from Russian prison in exchange for arms dealer Viktor Bout

The US and Russia have exchanged jailed US basketball star Brittney Griner for notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout, once nicknamed “the Merchant of Death,” officials said.

The swap was confirmed by US officials with direct knowledge of the negotiations ahead of an expected White House announcement, the Associated Press reports.

Griner is a two-time Olympic gold medalist whose months-long imprisonment on drug charges brought unprecedented attention to the population of wrongful detainees.

She was arrested in February at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport after vape canisters containing cannabis oil were found in her luggage - but she maintained it was an honest mistake.

US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris confirmed on Thursday morning they had already spoken by phone with Griner and she is said to have been in good spirits.

In a celebratory tweet, Mr Biden said Griner, a native of Houston, Texas, is on a plane home and is safe.

The Russian foreign ministry said it traded Griner for Russian citizen Viktor Bout, a former Soviet Army lieutenant colonel whom the US Justice Department once described as one of the world’s most prolific arms dealers.

Bout, whose exploits inspired a Hollywood movie, was serving a 25-year sentence on charges that he conspired to sell tens of millions of dollars in weapons that US officials said were to be used against Americans.

The deal, the second such exchange in eight months with Russia, procured the release of the most prominent American detained abroad.

The dramatic high-level prisoner exchange, however, did not include the release of Paul Whelan, a Michigan corporate security executive jailed in Russia since December 2018 on espionage charges.

Mr Whelan's family and the US government say the accusations against him are baseless. He was sentenced in 2020 to 16 years in prison.

Griner pleaded guilty in July, though still faced trial because admitting guilt in Russia’s judicial system does not automatically end a case. She acknowledged in court she possessed the canisters, but said she had no criminal intent and said their presence in her luggage was due to hasty packing.

Her status as an openly gay Black woman, locked up in a country where authorities have been hostile to the LBGTQ community, infused racial and gender dynamics into the picture and made each development a matter of global importance.

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The US government negotiated the prisoner exchange with Russia, with the UAE helping to facilitate the swap.

The US government worked towards Brittney Griner's release since February, after she was wrongfully detained in Russia.

The Biden administration was working to free Brittney Griner from Russia, with President Biden speaking with Brittney Griner's wife to promise her release.

Title:

Content: Upon receiving letter from Houston's Brittney Griner, Biden says he's working to get her home

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- One day before the trial for Houston native Brittney Griner resumes in Russia, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris spoke with Cherelle Griner, Brittney Griner's wife.

Biden's conversation with Cherelle Griner followed Brittney Griner's personal appeal to the president in a handwritten letter from the basketball superstar the White House received Monday.

In the letter, Brittney Griner said she feared she would spend forever in detention in Russia and asked Biden not to "forget about me and the other American Detainees."

Brittney Griner has been detained in Russia for four months and is currently on trial, accused of possessing vape cartridges containing cannabis oil. The trial resumes Thursday.

Less than 1% of the defendants in Russian criminal cases are acquitted, and, unlike in U.S. courts, acquittals can be overturned.

"The president called Cherelle to reassure her that he is working to secure Brittney Griner's release as soon as possible, as well as the release of Paul Whelan and other U.S. nationals who are wrongfully detained or held hostage in Russia and around the world," the White House said in a statement. "He also read her a draft of the letter the President is sending to Brittney Griner (Wednesday)."

Biden offered the family his support and committed to making sure they receive "all possible assistance" during the administration's pursuit of Brittney Griner's release, the White House said. He added this situation has been at the top of his mind, and he receives daily updates about the status of Brittney Griner's negotiations.

Following the phone call, Cherelle Griner released a statement saying - in part - she's grateful for the time the president and vice president spent with her and for the commitment they expressed to bringing Brittney Griner home. Cherelle Griner admits she remains concerned and will stay outspoken, but is also hopeful.

The WNBA Players Association, upon learning about the president's phone call, says in a statement, it now has "a level of comfort BG has not been forgotten."

Additionally, a group of more than 1,100 Black women leaders sent an open letter to Biden and Harris on behalf of Brittney Griner.

The letter from the Win With Black Women Network, calling on the president and vice president to make a deal with Russian officials, is signed by basketball Hall of Famers, elected officials, activists and even Tina Knowles-Lawson, Beyonce's mother.

The women leaders say Brittney Griner is being used as a political pawn and enduring inhumane conditions while being denied communication with her spouse, family and friends.

For more sports news, follow Adam Winkler on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Copyright © 2022 KTRK-TV. All Rights Reserved.

The White House was committed to securing Brittney Griner's release, with President Biden receiving daily updates on the negotiations.

The US government proposed a substantial offer to repatriate Griner and Whelan, which included trading Victor Bout for their release.

Title:

Content: The United States insists that Russia agree on an exchange of prisoners for the release of Britney Grenier
Foreign Minister Anthony Blinken spoke by phone with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday at the highest known level of communication between the two sides since Russia ’ s invasion of Ukraine, as Blinken urged Russia to accept the deal to secure the release of American prisoners Britney Grenier.
Paul Whelan.
Russian officials gave no public hint as to whether Blinken had made any progress, instead issuing a chilling statement in which they subsequently called on the United States to pursue American freedom through “quiet diplomacy without revealing speculative information. ”
In recent days, U.S. officials have announced their efforts to bring back Greener, a WNBA star, and Whelan, the chief executive of corporate security, whose case has garnered nationwide attention.
Blinken did not give details of Lavrov ’ s response to what he had previously called Russia ’ s “substantial offer ” to release Whelan and Greiner.
Blinken publicly requested communication and reported on Russia ’ s offer.
People familiar with the show say the U.S. wants to trade Whelan and Greiner for convicted Russian arms dealer Victor Bout.
Blinken described the call as a "frank, direct conversation" that focused on detained Americans.
“I called on Foreign Minister Lavrov to advance this proposal, ” he said.
“I can ’ t give you an estimate of whether it ’ s more or less likely. ”
Watch | America Reveals Steps to Return Jailed Basketball Player:
White House offers Russia a deal to free basketball star Britney Grenier
The Biden administration says it has made a "substantial offer" to repatriate two American detainees from Russia, including basketball star Britney Grenier.
Blinken also said he insisted on the importance of Russia following the deal allowing Ukrainian grain shipments to leave the Black Sea, and warned him of the consequences if Moscow pursued its alleged plans to annex parts of eastern and southern Ukraine.
Canada stunned Russia with overtime to reach the semi-finals of the World Hockey League
Blinkin said he told Lavrov that the world would “never recognize ” any annexation of Ukrainian territory, which he said would“ lead to significant additional costs for Russia. ”
He declined to comment on how Lavrov reacted to his reports.
I do not want to describe any of Foreign Minister Lavrov ’ s answers.
In a subsequent statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Lavrov “strongly suggested ” that Blinkin“ return to a professional dialogue in the style of quiet diplomacy ” on any attempts to release American detainees.
Lavrov also reiterated Russia ’ s promises to continue fighting until it achieves its goals in Ukraine, renewed complaints that U.S. and NATO support for Ukraine is prolonging the conflict, and accused the United States of not yet complying with its grain supply agreements from Ukraine.
This was reported in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Tensions are escalating
Blinken ’ s comments earlier this week were the first time the U.S. government has publicly made public any specific actions it has taken to release Greiner.
Two-time Olympic champion and WNBA player Phoenix Mercury was arrested at a Moscow airport in mid-February when inspectors found vape cartridges with cannabis oil in her luggage.
Greiner ’ s arrest came at a time of heightened tensions between Moscow and Washington before Russia sent troops into Ukraine on February 24.
Five months after Griner ’ s arrest, he drew sharp criticism from his colleagues and supporters in the United States.
A drug trial began in a Moscow court this month, and on Wednesday she revealed she didn ’ t know how the bullets ended up in her bag, but that she had a doctor ’ s recommendation to use cannabis to treat work-related pain.
The 31-year-old pleaded guilty but said she had no criminal intent to bring bullets to Russia and was hastily packed for her return to the Russian basketball league at the end of the WNBA season.
She faces up to 10 years in prison if found guilty of drug trafficking.
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The Biden administration has faced political pressure to release Greiner and other Americans whom the US has declared “unjustly detained ” — a decision that Russian officials have categorically rejected.
Whelan, head of corporate security from Michigan, was sentenced to 16 years in prison for espionage in 2020.
He and his family insisted on their innocence.
The United States Government has condemned these allegations as false.
For years, Russia has shown interest in freeing Russian arms dealer Botha, who was once nicknamed the “Merchant of Death. ”
In 2012, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison for conspiring to illegally sell millions of dollars worth of weapons.

The US diplomat revealed negotiations for Brittney Griner's release, with the US submitting a proposal to Russia but getting no serious response initially.

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Content: The United States has made a "serious proposal" to Russia on the release of female basketball star and former Marine
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The Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported on Monday (November 28) that a senior US diplomat revealed that the United States and Russia are consulting through special channels on the conditions for the release of US basketball star Brittney Griner and former US Marine Paul Whelan.
The report also quoted Rudd, the charge d ’ affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Russia, as saying that the United States had submitted a serious proposal to Russia, but had not yet received a “serious response ” from Russia.
Greiner faces nine years in prison in Russia on drug charges, and the two countries have negotiated her release in exchange for Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer currently serving a prison sentence in the United States.
Due to the continuing tension between Russia and the United States, no agreement has been reached between the two sides.
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The US Embassy in Russia was involved in negotiations for Brittney Griner's release, with the US making a serious proposal to Russia.

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Content: The United States has made a "serious proposal" to Russia on the release of female basketball star and former Marine
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The Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported on Monday (November 28) that a senior US diplomat revealed that the United States and Russia are consulting through special channels on the conditions for the release of US basketball star Brittney Griner and former US Marine Paul Whelan.
The report also quoted Rudd, the charge d ’ affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Russia, as saying that the United States had submitted a serious proposal to Russia, but had not yet received a “serious response ” from Russia.
Greiner faces nine years in prison in Russia on drug charges, and the two countries have negotiated her release in exchange for Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer currently serving a prison sentence in the United States.
Due to the continuing tension between Russia and the United States, no agreement has been reached between the two sides.
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The Biden administration was considering a prisoner swap to free Brittney Griner, with Russian media speculating that Viktor Bout could be swapped for her.

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WNBA star Biden arrested by Russia for "inaction"
The White House announced that President Biden spoke with Cherelle Griner, the wife of Brittney Griner, who was arrested by Russia on the 6th, and promised to free her as soon as possible. As the public opinion about saving Greiner increased, the Biden administration was unable to rescue her, and the whole incident has evolved into a headache for Biden. political issues.
Phoenix Mercury center Greiner was arrested for carrying hashish oil when he entered Moscow airport in February and faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
In a letter to Biden, Greener said, “I ’ m afraid I ’ ll stay here forever. ”
She implored Biden to "not forget me and the other Americans who have been arrested."
In an interview with CBS Mornings on Friday, Greiner's wife, Cheryl, said she had not heard Biden's personal phone calls so far and felt very sad; she said repeatedly in interviews that she did not think the Biden administration was actively bringing Greiner home.
In a statement, the White House said, “The President called Cheryl to assure her of efforts to ensure that Greiner is released as soon as possible, as well as to release Paul Whelan, Michigan ’ s head of corporate security, and other U.S. citizens who have been wrongfully detained and held in Russia and around the world. ”
Vice President Kamala Harris also spoke with Cheryl.
Civil rights leader Al Sharpton, an African-American pastor, is in talks with the Biden administration to get a cleric to visit Greener in custody in Moscow; he understands the sensitivities of the process, but thinks the Biden administration can do more.
Sharpton said that in addition to talking to Cheryl over the phone, she also interviewed Cheryl on a radio show last week.
He said that Sheryl deduced from the contents of Greiner's letter that Greiner was very nervous and that few people in prison spoke English, and that Greiner had difficulty communicating basic needs.
Greiner ’ s supporters hoped to bring her home in exchange for a prisoner, which Russian media speculated might be Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, but the arrangement was not in line with the White House ’ s moral and political considerations.
In addition, Greiner is an African lesbian, if the White House rescue fails, the consequences may be unthinkable.
Finally, if the rescue fails, it means that Biden, in addition to high oil prices, high inflation, and the overthrow of the abortion rights case, will add another incident of loss of points, and the political situation is likely to further explore the bottom.
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White House employee pay report. Scientific consultant Collins gets top $300,000 a year.
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The State Department met with the WNBA to discuss Brittney Griner's detention and reclassified her as unjustly detained in May.

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Content: State Department officials meet with WNBA Greener team over detention in Russia
State Department officials met with WNBA members Britney Greiner on Monday about the months-long detention of a Phoenix Mercury star in Russia and the Biden administration ’ s efforts to free her.
The State Department confirmed the meeting, which was attended by representatives of his specialized office, advocating for hostages and unjustly holding Americans.
"It takes a lot to get her home safe and sound, they work tirelessly," Mercury star Diana Taurazi said after the meeting in a statement released by Mercury.
“We ’ re here to do everything we can to strengthen BG and keep it ahead, which is more important than any basketball game and everything else that happens in our lives.
We want BG to come home as soon as possible, he ’ s number one on our list. ”
The administration has previously said it is working to bring Greiner and another Michigan corporate security director, Paul Whelan, home from Russia.
“The State Department ’ s knowledge at the highest level, from US President Joe Biden to the team working to bring back all unjustly detained Americans, gives us great confidence that they are working on it, ” said Turassi.
Grenier was detained on February 17 at an airport in Russia after local authorities said that during an inspection of her bag, vape cartridges containing a derivative of cannabis were found.
In May, the State Department reclassified Greiner as unjustly detained and transferred oversight of her case to the State Department ’ s Presidential Commissioner for Hostage Affairs, or SPEHA.
“It is the 116th day since B.G. was unjustly arrested.
It was nice to hear from the State Department that we should continue to spread this message and that we should continue to put pressure on everyone who has any influence or power to help bring B.G. home, ” said coach Vanessa Mercury Nygaard.
The head of the Polish Draughts Federation apologized for the incident with the raising of the Russian flag - sport
After meeting with the State Department, Mercury players and staff met with Congressman Greg Stanton of Arizona and Congressman Sheila Jackson Lee of Houston, Grener ’ s hometown.
“For Mercury ’ s team, coaches and CEOs, every day without Britney is a lifetime, ” Stanton said.
Teammates and league players are pushing President Biden on social media to help her get home.
WNBA players were also able to send emails and messages to Griner through an account created by her agent.
The emails are periodically printed and delivered to Greener by her lawyer after being verified by Russian officials.
As soon as the lawyers return to their offices, they will scan any responses from Greener and send them to the United States to send to the players.

The US government opposes wrongful detention as a bargaining chip and changed Griner's status to "wrongfully detained".

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Brittney Griner Involved In Possible Prisoner Swap With Russia

In an effort to free Brittney Griner, the pro basketball star detained in Russia, the Biden administration has offered to swap her for convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout and send him back to Russia, Forbes has learned. Negotiations are in the early stages, according to a non-government source in a position to know.

Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and six-time WNBA all-star who also plays professionally in Russia, was arrested in Moscow Feb. 17 after customs police claimed they found vape cartridges with hash oil in her luggage. Bout, the so-called “Merchant of Death,” inspired Nicolas Cage’s gunrunner character in the 2005 film, “Lord of War.” He’s serving a 25-year sentence in federal prison since his 2011 conviction in New York federal court of conspiring to sell millions of dollars in weapons to FARC, the Colombian terror group.

The possibility of a Griner-Bout trade was reported on May 13 by Tass, Russia’s state-owned news agency, and confirmed for Forbes by the source. “Currently, talks are underway on exchanging Bout for Griner,” Tass reported, citing “a source in the Public Monitoring Commission.” A second Moscow-based news outlet, Gazeta.Ru, had earlier reported a Griner-Bout exchange was in the works.

A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department declined to comment. Roger Carstens, the special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, who leads the interagency team that’s working for Griner’s release, had no comment. The same was true for Bout’s New York attorney, Steve Zissou. Lindsay Kagawa Colas, Griner’s California agent, did not respond to requests for comment.

Despite the anti-Russian fervor in Washington sparked by President Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked war in Ukraine, the White House a month ago struck a deal to free Trevor Reed, a former Marine who had been held in a Russian prison for two years for allegedly attacking a Moscow police officer. In exchange, President Joe Biden commuted the sentence of Konstantin Yaroshenko, who was serving 20 years for conspiring to import $100 million in cocaine.

Former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, who’d been instrumental in Reed’s release, is also working on behalf of Griner’s family at their request, according to Mickey Bergman, vice president of the Richardson Center. He’s also working for the release of Paul Whelan, a former Marine detained in Moscow since 2018 on espionage charges. “The situation (as you might imagine) is sensitive,” Bergman said, declining to comment further.

Bout was a translator in the Soviet army before starting an air-freight company that transported tens of millions of arms he supplied during his heyday in the 1990s and early 2000s to sanctioned militias and rebels in conflicts throughout Africa and Asia. Soft-spoken, erudite, fluent in seven languages with an IQ of 170, Bout seemed more like a university professor than the world’s most notorious illegal arms trafficker. His 2008 arrest in Bangkok was part of a sting operation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.

The U.S. government opposes the practice of wrongful detention as a bargaining chip because it represents a threat to the safety of everyone traveling, working and living abroad, a State Department official told Forbes. That disdain, however, didn’t stop the department from helping arrange the release of Reed and others.

Griner, 31, is by far the most high profile of the more than a dozen Americans detained by Russia in the last decade. That puts more pressure on the State Department, which is acutely aware that as a Black lesbian, Griner could be a target of Putin’s exclusionary politics. Since the maximum base salary in the WNBA is $228,094 — male stars can earn as much as Steph Curry’s $45 million annually — Griner and many other American women play during the WNBA off-season in Russia, where they can bring home more than $1 million. Griner has played several years for the team in Ekaterinburg.

Griner’s U.S. supporters were at first mostly silent over her plight. The government convinced them that Russia might deport her quickly only if her case did not become front-page news. Once it became clear that Russia planned to hold her, the State Department changed her status to “wrongfully detained,” opening the door to swap negotiations. Briner’s U.S. supporters have spoken out forcefully against her imprisonment.

One lingering question is whether a deal to swap Bout for Griner will get Biden’s approval. Given the president’s declaration that Putin is a “war criminal,” some on Griner’s team worry he might hesitate before freeing an infamous Russian arms trafficker.

“There’s a problem with releasing a convicted arms trafficker for Griner, whose drug possession would probably only be a fine in the U.S.,” says Shira Scheindlin, the retired federal judge who presided over the Bout trial and was required to sentence him to the 25-year mandatory minimum. “It would be better if Bout – who has already served too much time in my opinion – was exchanged for both Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan. Then there would be some moral equivalency about which few could complain.”

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The Biden administration offered to swap Brittney Griner for Viktor Bout, with Bout serving a 25-year sentence in federal prison.

The US government proposed a prisoner exchange to free Brittney Griner, with Russia proposing an exchange involving Viktor Bout.

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1 for 2 US offers to exchange prisoners with Russia to let WNBA star Greiner go home
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday that the United States had offered Russia a proposal to bring home detained Russian WNBA star Brittney Griner and Michigan business executive Paul Whelan. Blinken did not disclose details of the offer, but people familiar with the matter said the U.S. government proposed using convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. Back to Cleveland and Greene.
Blinken also said he wanted to have the first conversation with Russia ’ s foreign minister since Russia ’ s invasion of Ukraine to discuss the deal and other matters.
This is very different from previous US policies.
Blinken ’ s phone call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will be the first time the two have spoken since February 15, about a week before Russia invaded Ukraine.
"We made a substantial proposal a few weeks ago to get them released," Blinken said.
The government has communicated directly and repeatedly about this proposal, and I will use this dialogue to follow up personally with a view to reaching a solution.
"President Biden and his team are willing to take extraordinary steps to bring them home," said John Kirby, the White House National Security Council strategic communications coordinator.
This is the first time the government has publicly disclosed that concrete action is being taken to secure Greiner's release.
Greiner was arrested on drug-related charges at Moscow airport in February and appeared in court on the 27th.
It ’ s not clear if the offer will be enough for Russia to release the two U.S. citizens, but Blinken ’ s announcement of the offer is a sign of growing pressure to release both Greiner and Whelan, and the government ’ s determination to get them home.
The White House ’ s growing acceptance of “prisoner exchange ” for American prisoners abroad; the release of former business executive Trevor Reed, who was imprisoned in Moscow in April, brought the government a much-needed publicity victory, while showing its benefits, but also increased the pressure on the White House to bring back Greener and others.
Officials noted that after meeting with Reid's parents, President Biden approved and signed an exchange agreement for Reid to return to the United States.
Officials said that Blinken ’ s request for a re-call with Lavrov on the 27th to get a response from the Russian side on the prisoner exchange proposal was the main reason, but there were other things to talk about.
Blinken said he would also discuss with Lavrov the importance of Russia ’ s compliance with the U.N.-brokered agreement to free Ukrainian grain and warn of the dangers of Russia ’ s attempts to annex parts of eastern and southern Ukraine.
"It would be useful to send a clear and direct message to the Russian side on our key priorities," Blinken said.
Whelan was sentenced to 16 years in prison by Russia for espionage in 2020, and he and his family claim to be innocent; the US government condemned the Russian allegations as untrue.
Greiner, who has been detained in Russia for the past five months, admitted in court that when she arrived in Moscow in February, her luggage contained a vape e-cigarette containing cannabis oil, but she argued that she had no intention and that she had inadvertently packed the e-cigarette.
If convicted of transporting drugs, Greiner faces up to 10 years in prison.
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The US government communicated directly with Russia about the proposal, with Blinken set to discuss the deal with the Russian Foreign Minister.

Griner's experiences in the Russian penitentiary system were harsh, with limited access to basic necessities, and she had to adapt to a difficult environment, but she was eventually released from Russian detention on December 8, 2022.

The US government's efforts to free Griner included a prisoner swap, which was negotiated by President Joe Biden and involved the release of Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer.

Griner's release was a result of the US government's persistent efforts, and she was finally able to return home after nearly a year in Russian prison.

Griner's wife, Cherelle, felt that Brittney was a hostage in Russia and was terrified for her safety, but was relieved when Brittney was finally released.

Title:

Content: Cherelle Griner on Wife Brittney’s Russian Prison Sentence: Feels Like She’s a ‘Hostage’

WNBA star Brittney Griner’s wife, Cherelle, said Wednesday on “CBS Mornings” that it felt like Brittney Griner was a hostage in Russia after she was sentenced to nine years in prison in Russia for having cannabis vape cartridges in her luggage.

Griner’s appeal of her sentence has been scheduled for October 25.

Griner said, “It’s like a movie for me. I’m like, in no world did I ever thought our president and a foreign nation president would be sitting down having to discuss the freedom of my wife. So to me, as much as everybody’s telling me a different definition of what BG is, it feels to me as if she’s a hostage.”

Co-host Gayle King said, “That must scare you.”

Griner said, “It terrifies me because when you watch movies sometimes those situations don’t end well. Sometimes they never get the person back.”

King said, “This is not a movie, though. This is your life.”

Griner said, “Exactly, this is my life. And so I’m sitting here saying do we get her back? Do I get to see my wife again? Everything is so unprecedented. Everything is changeable, I think, is a really good word. I feel like every day I’m hearing something new.”

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN

After her release, Griner returned home, where she was welcomed back, and began to adjust to life after her experiences in the Russian prison system.

Griner's story sparked outrage in the United States, with many considering her detention unlawful, and the WNBA and US officials worked to secure her release.

Griner cut her dreadlocks before release from Russian prison to avoid freezing during the Russian winter.

She made the decision two weeks prior to her release, as she feared her hair would freeze and make her sick.

Griner was preparing for a long prison term and had abandoned hope of being released soon.

The US government secured her release before the New Year, bringing an end to her difficult life in Russian prison.

Griner's life in Russian prison was very difficult, and she is finally back home in the US.

After her release, Griner thanked President Joe Biden for her release and plans to play for the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury.

Title:

Content: WNBA star Greiner: It's good to be home
^ "American" Brittney Griner ".
(Photo / Reuters)
News / Central News Agency, Washington, 16.
U.S. women's professional basketball star Brittney Griner, released by Russia, said today for the first time that it is "good to be home" and vowed to play for the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury this season.
Greiner posted a message on Instagram thanking a long list of people who helped her release, including “special thanks ” to President Joe Biden.
"I also want to make one thing clear: I plan to play for the WNBA Phoenix Mercury this season," Greiner said.
The two-time Olympic gold medalist was arrested at Moscow airport on February 17 for carrying cannabis oil in her e-cigarette case. On August 4, she was sentenced to nine years in prison by a Russian court for drug possession and smuggling.
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Griner was arrested for carrying cannabis oil and was sentenced to nine years in prison.

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Content: WNBA star Greiner: It's good to be home
^ "American" Brittney Griner ".
(Photo / Reuters)
News / Central News Agency, Washington, 16.
U.S. women's professional basketball star Brittney Griner, released by Russia, said today for the first time that it is "good to be home" and vowed to play for the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury this season.
Greiner posted a message on Instagram thanking a long list of people who helped her release, including “special thanks ” to President Joe Biden.
"I also want to make one thing clear: I plan to play for the WNBA Phoenix Mercury this season," Greiner said.
The two-time Olympic gold medalist was arrested at Moscow airport on February 17 for carrying cannabis oil in her e-cigarette case. On August 4, she was sentenced to nine years in prison by a Russian court for drug possession and smuggling.
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She expressed gratitude on Instagram after her release and vowed to play in the upcoming season.

Title:

Content: WNBA star Greiner: It's good to be home
^ "American" Brittney Griner ".
(Photo / Reuters)
News / Central News Agency, Washington, 16.
U.S. women's professional basketball star Brittney Griner, released by Russia, said today for the first time that it is "good to be home" and vowed to play for the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury this season.
Greiner posted a message on Instagram thanking a long list of people who helped her release, including “special thanks ” to President Joe Biden.
"I also want to make one thing clear: I plan to play for the WNBA Phoenix Mercury this season," Greiner said.
The two-time Olympic gold medalist was arrested at Moscow airport on February 17 for carrying cannabis oil in her e-cigarette case. On August 4, she was sentenced to nine years in prison by a Russian court for drug possession and smuggling.
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Griner returned to the US after 10 months in Russian jail and played for the Phoenix Mercury in a WNBA pre-season warm-up.

Title:

Content: WNBA: Brittney Griner makes first comeback after being jailed in Russia: 'It's a miracle she's back here'
Author: Wu Muer
Published: Updated:
American star center Brittney Griner, who was imprisoned in Russia for 10 months, returned to the United States for the first time since being released in December to play for the Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA pre-season warm-up.
Even if the team is 71: 90 against the Los Angeles Sparks, Glenna's performance is still a long way from the level of the game, no one cares about the result, coach Vanessa Nygaard and Mercury teammates are excited, opponents of the Sparks players tightly hugged her, Glenna said this battle is significant, saying: "Never take any day for granted."
Glenna (right) returns to basketball for the first time since returning to the United States. (Reuters)
Glenna, 32, is one of the most famous female basketball stars in the United States. She was selected to the WNBA star team eight times and won the Olympic gold medal twice for the United States.
Possession of cannabis is illegal in Russia, but the standard penalty for possession of cannabis oil under 2 grams or cannabis under 6 grams is a fine or imprisonment for up to 15 days.
The United States initially attempted diplomatic mediation without success, alleging that Glenna was "illegally arrested" by the Russian side, and the incident became a new chapter in the political turmoil between the United States and Russia.
In September last year, a Russian court sentenced Glenna to nine years in prison. After her appeal was dismissed, the United States and Russia finally reached a prisoner exchange agreement and were released from prison on December 8.
She has returned to the team training earlier, Saturday for the first time in the game, is selected to play 17 minutes, the first minute has scored two points, the 6 feet 9 inches of the center long sparrow, the performance inevitably has a "rust" sense, 5 shot 2, with the penalty ball scored 10 points, and 3 rebounds, she knows that the distance from the best state is still far, after a disaster she said: Sitting here, I never thought I could play basketball so quickly. "
Glenna took part in a live video interrogation at a Russian prison last year. (AP)
“I don ’ t know what will happen, but I ’ m grateful to be here. ”
I won ’ t take it for granted any day since, ” she said. “Hearing the national anthem again feels completely different. ”
It's like being in the Olympics, you sit there, the gold medal is about to wear the neck, the national flag is raised, the national anthem is played, and the feeling is very different. "
For the first time since 2021, Glenna is competing in a Mercury suit. “Being here today means a lot … it feels good, it definitely feels appreciated. ”
I can ’ t wait to get back to a day where it was just basketball. ” Yes, because everyone was completely distracted by her return to the game, even the team ’ s head coach.
Mercury coach Vanessa Nygaard said that the national anthem and the introduction of the moment, the whole team is excited, "we look at each other, the chicken skin straight up."
Last year we had everything here all year, and now I ’ m starting to feel emotional.
It was an absolute miracle just to see Glenna come out again, it was amazing, and it made me skin again. ”
Glenna has twice won Olympic gold medals for the United States, including the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. (Getty Images)
Glinna's return to the field also rekindled Mercury's hopes for the title.
She was the 2013 WNBA draft pick, was selected by Mercury and has been playing since then, winning the team's third WNBA championship in 2014. She averaged 17.7 points and 7.6 rebounds in nine years of WNBA career, and Mercury won the final of the playoffs for three consecutive years from 2016 to 2018.
In 2022, the team lost to Glenna, and the team was defeated by the Las Vegas Aces in the first round of the playoffs 0: 2.
In the comeback war, Glenna did not perform as expected, thinking that she was detained in Russia for 10 months, during which time she was interrogated, sentenced to heavy prison, imprisoned in a mysterious prison where the outside world can not know the location, coupled with lack of language, psychological torture and suffering, to be able to step out of the field is actually a victory.
She confessed, “It ’ s far from what I hoped, but it ’ s back on track, and we ’ re doing the right thing. ”
The WNBA 2023 regular season kicks off on Friday, May 19, with Mercury playing against the Los Angeles Sparks.
Greta returned to the game for the first time with a lot of expressions:
+ 1

She scored 10 points and 3 rebounds in 17 minutes of play, and expressed gratitude to be back playing basketball in the US.

Griner signed a one-year deal with the Phoenix Mercury after her release and averaged 19.1 points and 6.4 rebounds in her first nine games.

Title:

Content: ‘She brings light’: Brittney Griner’s triumphant return to the WNBA

Prior to being detained in a Russian prison for 294 days, Brittney Griner was on top of the world.

The 32-year-old was coming off one of the best WNBA seasons of her career. She was the Most Valuable Player runner-up, averaging 20.5 points and 9.5 rebounds for the Phoenix Mercury, who she led back to the WNBA finals for the first time since winning the title in 2014. Meanwhile, Griner was on her way to play for Russian club UMMC Ekaterinburg, who she had led to four EuroLeague titles since she started spending her WNBA off-seasons there in 2014.

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At the time of her arrest Griner was, according to the testimony of her Russian teammate Evgenia Belyakova, “the most beloved player in Russia.”

To become such a popular figure in both America and Russia is no easy task for a gay, Black woman. But Griner’s ascent was never easy. She was bullied relentlessly growing up, first for her size and later for her sexuality, becoming one of the first active athletes in professional North American sports to come out as gay, shortly after being drafted No 1 overall by the Mercury in 2013.

In her first game as a pro, the 6ft 9in Griner towered over her opponents, changing the perceptions of what a female basketball player was capable of when she set a WNBA record with two dunks in a game. Griner went on to win a WNBA title, two Olympic gold medals, and seven WNBA All-Star appearances, on pace to achieve a level of greatness few ever have in the women’s game, and being marketed accordingly.

In fact, Griner was the first openly gay athlete to be endorsed by Nike. And the WNBA used her at the center of its marketing, acknowledging that gay athletes and LGBTQ+ activists like Griner were good for business.

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So when it all came crashing down at a Moscow airport on 17 February 2022, when Griner was found with vape cartridges containing traces of hashish oil in her luggage, not only did her career come to a screeching halt, but the league that she had been bound to since 2013 lost some of its forward momentum, too. She was later sentenced to nine years in Russian prison.

As much as Griner tried to stay positive, and as much as the WNBA community tried to help, a cloud hung over the entire 2022 season – one that would not dissipate until Griner was released and returned to America.

“Last year, it felt as though we couldn’t play with joy … It felt bad for us to be happy or to celebrate things because the weight of BG’s wrongful detainment weighed over us,” says former Mercury head coach Vanessa Nygaard.

When the US negotiated a prisoner swap to secure Griner’s freedom last December, she almost immediately announced her intention to return to the WNBA in 2023, signing a one-year deal with the Mercury. But nobody knew what to expect from Griner, who had spent almost a year under arduous physical and mental conditions.

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But, against all odds, Griner appears to be back to her normal self, on and off the court.

Related: WNBA power lies with two superteams. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing

In her first WNBA game in 579 days, Griner had 18 points, six rebounds and four blocks in a loss to the Los Angeles Sparks. In her first home game a couple of days later, she hit just the seventh three-pointer of her career, yelling “I’m back!” to the crowd of 14,000 cheering fans.

“I appreciate everything a little more,” Griner said about being back in the league. “All the little, small moments that I used to just [think]: ‘Oh, I’m so tired, I don’t want to go to practice today. And, oh, this and that.’ That has changed, honestly. Just appreciating everything because tomorrow’s not guaranteed.”

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Griner is averaging 19.1 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 2.4 blocks on a career-high 61.8% shooting through her first nine games of the 2023 season. She is back to being the Mercury’s best player, dominating in the post over swarms of defenders and blocking everything that comes her way on the other end of the floor. After being an honorary All-Star selection last season, Griner was named an All-Star starter on Sunday.

But what may be even more impressive is the enthusiasm and spirit she has brought to the Mercury and the WNBA, constantly flashing her trademark smile, joking around at press conferences, and uplifting her teammates at every opportunity.

“We were all hoping that she was going to be OK coming back, and that she did not lose her light, and she really didn’t,” says Mercury forward Megan Gustafson, adding that Griner’s presence has transformed the locker room. “I think we were a little bit surprised, because anyone that goes through an experience like that – I mean, I couldn’t even imagine being the same person. But she really is and I’m just so proud of her and just the light that she brings again … It’s really just her light, her positivity that [has] shone through.”

Sandy Brondello, who coached Griner in Phoenix for eight seasons prior to moving on to New York, is also glowing about the player’s return to the WNBA. “It’s like sometimes we sweat having a bad game – she was in prison,” says Brondello. “She had to live in prison for such a long time. So I think she has that joy. Just go out there and play.”

Griner has brought a lot of attention to the WNBA, which was already growing rapidly. Not only is the league averaging almost 1,000 more fans a game in Griner’s return season, but its broadcasts have also hit record viewership numbers – up 49% from last season across ESPN networks.

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“I think that if you look at last season, there was something and someone missing in the WNBA and that was obviously Brittney Griner,” former WNBA MVP and Griner’s one-time UMMC Ekaterinburg teammate Breanna Stewart says. “So the ability to have her back here kind of makes our circle complete, because she is such a force and a presence on and off the court and her ability to kind of be so dominant and aggressive but also such a kind, caring person – everybody’s missed that.”

Griner’s on-court play cannot be separated from her political advocacy off it, especially in a league as socially active as the WNBA. And Griner’s imprisonment has forced the WNBA to reckon with its lackluster treatment of athletes in the past, forcing the league to improve pay and travel standards so that the Griner situation does not repeat itself.

After all, the primary reason that Griner was in Russia in the first place is because her salary at UMMC Ekaterinburg is over $1m compared to the $165,100 she will make this year in the WNBA. In fact, 67 of the league’s 144 players still played internationally last off-season despite Griner’s detainment. Doing so is a financial necessity rather than a choice for most of the world’s best female basketball players.

The incident also highlighted concerns about commercial travel for WNBA players, many of whom are gay, Black women who can be targets of abuse. In fact, Griner has already been harassed this season when a conservative media personality confronted her and her teammates inside a Dallas airport in mid-June.

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In the past, the league has argued that charter flights create an unfair competitive advantage for teams that can afford to pay for them, fining the New York Liberty $500,000 for chartering flights last season. But the WNBA has already made improvements this season, allowing private flights for back-to-back games and for all playoff games. And after the news of Griner’s harassment and the pressure that came from it, the league recently announced that teams are permitted to fly on a public chartering service called JSX for the rest of the season.

It’s a step in the right direction that may not have been possible if not for Griner – a singular force who is as easy to galvanize around because of her on-court performances as she is for her personality. The league still has a long way to go in regards to growing the game and improving standards for its athletes, but Griner’s return has undoubtedly expedited the process.

“It’s a shame that it had to get to rock bottom. Because I feel like waiting for something to happen and then making a change, you don’t know what that something’s gonna be,” Griner said. “We’ve all seen what can happen in this world. And when you play the ‘let’s wait and see game,’ you’re really playing with fire. You’re playing with people’s lives.

“So I’m glad that they finally got it together and are going to allow us to do this. It’s just a shame that it took so damn long.”

She was named an All-Star starter after her return, and her presence transformed the Mercury's locker room.

Griner's imprisonment forced the WNBA to improve pay and travel standards, and broadcasts of WNBA games increased by 49% after her return.

Griner was harassed at a Dallas airport in mid-June, but the WNBA allowed private flights for back-to-back games and playoff games to ensure her safety.

Griner welcomed a child boy on July 8 and plans to compete in the Paris Olympics.

Title:

Content: WNBA Star Brittney Griner, Wife Cherelle Welcome First Child

WNBA star Brittney Griner and spouse Cherelle Griner have welcomed a child boy.

Brittney Griner revealed the information throughout an look Friday on the CBS Sports activities present We Must Discuss. The 33-year-old athlete, who made headlines in 2022 when she was arrested in Russia for hashish possession, shared that their son was born July 8. The couple had beforehand acknowledged their plans to call the kid Bash.

“He’s superb,” Griner informed We Must Discuss. “They are saying as quickly as you see him, the whole lot that you simply thought mattered simply goes out the window, and that’s actually what occurs.”

The athlete, who performs heart for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, is about to compete on the U.S. ladies’s nationwide basketball staff this summer season on the Paris Olympics. Griner beforehand gained gold with the staff within the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Video games.

“It type of sucks as a result of I’ve acquired to depart, however on the similar time, he’ll perceive,” mentioned Griner, who famous that she deliberate to have the kid name her “Pops.” She added, “My entire telephone is become him now.”

Cherelle Griner had been sharing images to Instagram throughout her being pregnant. “Can’t imagine we’re lower than three months away from assembly our favourite human being,” she posted in April, including the hashtag #BabyGrinerComingSoon. The couple acquired married in June 2019.

Brittney Griner was launched in December 2022 from a Russian jail as a part of a prisoner swap following her arrest in February of that yr on drug expenses. The Hollywood Reporter reported in December that Griner’s Russian detention was set to be the topic of an ESPN documentary and a possible scripted sequence from ABC Signature.

She won gold in the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games and is set to play for the US women's basketball team.

Griner spent 294 days in Russian custody and was sentenced to nine years in a Russian penal colony.

Title:

Content: Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner arrives in San Antonio after 10 months in Russian custody

Griner was transported to Brook Army Medical Center's reintegration center upon her arrival.

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Instagram / brittneyyevettegriner
WNBA star Brittney Griner spent 294 days in Russian custody after customs officials in Moscow allegedly discovered vape canisters containing cannabinoid oil in her luggage.
WNBA star Brittney Griner touched down at San Antonio’s former Kelly Air Force base early Friday morning after 10 months in Russian custody, according to media reports.

The two-time Olympic gold medalist was smiling as she stepped off the plane at 4:30 a.m., the Express-News reports. Following her arrival, she was transported to Brooke Army Medical Center’s reintegration facility, where she will receive any necessary medical treatment.

Medical experts from UT Health San Antonio told KSAT that Griner also may undergo extensive mental health evaluations.

In February, Griner was arrested at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport after customs officials allegedly found vape canisters continuing cannabinoid oil in her luggage. In August, she pled guilty to the charges and was sentenced to nine years in a Russian penal colony. She spent 294 days in Russian custody, according to the daily.

The basketball star was released in a prisoner swap between the U.S. and Russia on Thursday, in which the Biden administration handed over notorious international arms dealer Viktor Bout.

In a statement, Griner's family offered “sincere gratitude” to President Joe Biden and his administration for their efforts in bringing her home, according to the Express-News. It is unclear how long Griner will be in San Antonio before returning home to her family.

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She pled guilty to charges in August and was released in a prisoner swap with Viktor Bout.

Griner was taken to Brooke Army Medical Center's reintegration center after her release and may undergo mental health evaluations at UT Health San Antonio.

Griner's family thanked President Joe Biden for her release, and she is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and WNBA star.

Griner was heckled at an airport by conservative YouTuber Alex Stein, but she remained silent during the confrontation.

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Content: Phoenix Mercury confirm 'travel adjustments' after Brittney Griner was heckled at airport - as full video shows conservative YouTuber asking WNBA star 'if she had sex with Vladimir Putin'

  • Brittney Griner was heckled by YouTuber Alex Stein in Dallas on Saturday
  • The Phoenix Mercury have now confirmed they will make 'travel adjustments'
  • DailyMail.com provides all the latest international sports news

Phoenix Mercury coach Vanessa Nygaard has confirmed the team will make travel adjustments to upcoming road games after Brittney Griner was confronted by a conservative YouTube personality on Saturday at Dallas Airport.

Griner was convicted of drug smuggling in Russia and spent close to 10 months locked up in Mordovia, before she was brought back to America in a controversial prisoner swap with Viktor Bout - commonly known as 'The Merchant of Death'.

The reaction from the American public hasn't been overwhelmingly positive after Griner's return, given her previous comments about boycotting the national anthem - only to flip her opinion when she returned after her imprisonment in Russia.

That led to Stein filming Griner at Dallas Airport and attempting to ask her questions, which were met with silence by the WNBA star.

In the full clip, released on Sunday, Stein can be heard saying: 'Was that a fair trade for the Merchant of Death? I know you kill it on the court, but he kills it in real life.

Brittney Griner was asked if she had sex with Russian president Vladimir Putin on Saturday

Griner was heckled at the airport in Dallas as she and her teammates walked to their plane

Griner was back on the court on Sunday as the Phoenix Mercury beat the Indiana Fever

'Is it true you had to have sex with Vladimir Putin to get released from Russia? Brit? What about his wife?'

Although Mercury coach Nygaard has declined to reveal further details about the amendment to their travel plans, she did cite safety concerns.

The coach didn't like what transpired at the airport as the Mercury were leaving Dallas to get to Sunday's road game against the Indiana Fever.

'No one should be a victim of targeted harassment,' Nygaard said before the game. 'I'm grateful that our team and our staff are physically OK.

'Most of all, I'm grateful that BG has been back here in the United States for 185 days now. If her being home makes some people mad, I think that obviously says more about them than it does about her.'

The Mercury traveling party was eventually escorted into a room at the airport to get away from the heckling.

'That's obviously nothing no one wants to deal with, especially on a business trip for work,' Phoenix center Brianna Turner said. 'We're representing the league, we're representing the city of Phoenix, our organization and in times like that we don't want to cause a big scene.

Griner is pictured putting her bag through a scanner after she was approached by a sniffer dog at Moscow airport in February 2022

Griner spent nearly 10 months in a Russian penal colony for drug smuggling last year

She was involved in a high-profile prisoner swap with 'Merchant of Death' Viktor Bout (above)

'We don't to like throw phones or say some things. I guess the lesson is you live and learn but I don't know what you do if it happens again.'

While the WNBA said it has been working to keep Griner and all the players safe, the players union said Saturday that the league needs to do a better job of providing charter flights.

New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart, who is a member of the union's executive committee, is all for Griner flying however she wants.

'I think that, you know, that there needs to be extra precautionary measures taken and you know, I don't think anyone is against BG having charter flights whenever she wants, so that she can be herself and travel and be comfortable and be safe,' Stewart said. 'Because that's the last thing we want is what happened yesterday.'

Griner scored 29 points as the Mercury posted an 85-82 win over the Fever on Sunday.

Brittney Griner: Phoenix Mercury confirm 'travel adjustments' after airport incident

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The Phoenix Mercury made travel adjustments for upcoming road games to ensure Griner's safety, and the WNBA is working to keep her safe.

Griner scored 29 points in a win after the incident, and the players

Griner scored 29 points in a win after the incident, and the players

Griner scored 29 points in a win after the incident, and the players