Brittney Griner, an American basketball player, was detained in Russia in 2022 for marijuana possession and sentenced to nine years in a penal colony.

Griner's arrest was a geopolitical moment amid Russia's Ukraine invasion, with the US State Department declaring her "unjustly detained" in May.

The US government considered Griner's detention wrongful and worked to bring her home.

Griner's case impacted US-Russia relations and led to a proposed prisoner swap for her release.

Russia agreed to exchange Griner for arms dealer Viktor Bout.

The prisoner swap, including Griner's release, was a rare positive development in US-Russia relations, but not expected to improve bilateral ties.

Griner was transferred to a penal colony in Mordovia, Russia, where she faced harsh conditions.

The US government prioritized Griner's release under President Biden.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken led the US government's efforts to free Griner with a substantial offer for her release.

Griner pleaded guilty to drug smuggling in Russia, facing up to 10 years in prison.

Griner's detention was seen as a political pawn in US-Russia relations.

Griner asked President Biden for help, amid criticism of the administration's handling of her case.

Griner was released from Russian prison after 10 months in an exchange for Viktor Bout.

The Russian penal colony where Griner was held has poor conditions, brutality, and forced labor of up to 16 hours a day.

Griner faced difficulties in the Russian penitentiary system, partly due to not knowing the language.

Griner spent 294 days in Russian custody, experiencing psychological torture.

Griner was taken to Brooke Army Medical Center for medical treatment and mental health evaluations.

Griner expressed gratitude to President Joe Biden and the US government after being freed and returning home.

Griner's release was a major diplomatic victory for the Biden Administration.

Griner's story highlights the complexities of international diplomacy in protecting American citizens abroad.

Brittney Griner, an American basketball player, was detained in Russia in 2022 for marijuana possession and sentenced to nine years in a penal colony.

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Content: Diplomat Sparks Renewed Hope For Brittney Griner Prisoner Exchange

The situation surrounding Brittney Griner's case is looking a little less bleak, thanks to the recent developments brought about by negotiations between the U.S. and Russia.

In early November, the WNBA star had been transferred to a penal colony in the Russian republic of Mordovia. There, she began fulfilling her nine-year sentence for drug possession. As reported by Reuters, authorities initially arrested Griner in February 2022 after vape cartridges containing cannabis oil were discovered in her luggage at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport. While she attempted to appeal the ruling, it was ultimately upheld by a Russian court.

"This has been [a] very traumatic experience, waiting for this day, waiting for the first court, and getting nine years for a crime that I was barely over the significant amount," she said at the hearing (via CBS News). "I don't understand the first court's decision to give one year less than the max when I've been here almost 8 months, and people with more severe crimes have gotten less than what I was given... I really hope that the court will adjust this sentence, because it's been very, very stressful and very traumatic to my mental and psyche, being away from my family and not being able to communicate." However, there is now renewed hope that Griner could be released, with a Russian diplomat claiming that a swap could happen sometime in the future.

Russian diplomat says there's 'always a chance' for a swap

Not all hope is lost, after all. According to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, Russia is not turning its back on the possibility of a prisoner exchange with the U.S. As reported by the New York Post, Ryabkov told reporters that there is "always a chance" when asked about the likelihood of a swap taking place before the end of the year. However, he noted that in the past, there had been multiple instances when it seemed as if Russia would agree to a swap, only for the plan to fall apart. If the prisoner swap does take place, Ryabkov said it would "send a positive signal that not everything is hopeless in Russian-American relations."

In the meantime, it looks like Brittney Griner has her work cut out for her. Maria Alyokhina, a former member of the band Pussy Riot, didn't mince words when she spoke to NPR about her own experience at a Russian penal colony. "It has a bit better conditions than [the] original gulag system from the 1950s," she said, but added that it's still "a labor camp." She described the grim reality she endured while serving out her own sentence, calling it inhumane. "For 100 women, there are like three toilets and no hot water," she recalled, adding that the penal colony is merely a "legal slavery system."

According to a statement released by her lawyers (via BBC), she is trying her best to survive and is "doing as well as could be expected and trying to stay strong as she adapts to a new environment."

Griner's arrest was a geopolitical moment amid Russia's Ukraine invasion, with the US State Department declaring her "unjustly detained" in May.

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Content: Britney Grenier ’ s trial could end in conviction, experts say
More than four months after her first arrest, WNBA star Britney Greiner is expected to appear in the Russian courtroom on Friday to begin a drug trial that legal experts say will almost certainly end with a conviction despite the hype in the United States for her release.
“It ’ s mostly biased because the Russian judicial system says they can ’ t be tried until the defendant is found guilty, ” said William Pomerantz, acting director of the Kennan Institute and an expert on Russian law.
There is no real idea or expectation that the accused is innocent.
There is no presumption of innocence. ”
Russian customs officials said they found e-cigarette cartridges with traces of cannabis oil in Griner ’ s luggage as it passed through a checkpoint at an airport near Moscow on February 17.
Colony.
Grenier ’ s lawyer Alexander Boykov said Monday that he expects the trial to begin on Friday and last up to two months.
“At this point, we don ’ t know what evidence they have, ” Pomerance said.
“We don ’ t know how many volumes of evidence they want to read in the registry, but usually in such cases they are huge and significant. ”
Greiner ’ s arrest was an important geopolitical moment during Russia ’ s ongoing invasion of Ukraine and amid Russia ’ s strained diplomatic relations with the United States and some European countries.
From the very beginning of Greiner ’ s arrest, his supporters feared that Russia would use him during a global conflict.
In May, the U.S. State Department confirmed these concerns by declaring Greiner “unjustly detained. ”
As a result, responsibility for this case was transferred to the Government Office, which directs and coordinates U.S. diplomatic and strategic efforts on hostage taking abroad.
Britney has been classified as unjustly detained since April 29, meaning that the US government has established that she is being used as a political tool and, as a result, is negotiating her release regardless of the trial.
This was reported by Agent Greener Lindsay Kagawa Kolas in an email on Wednesday.
“So our expectations, including Britney ’ s family, remain that President Biden will make a deal to bring her home. ”
Qatar-2022: World Cup leaders responded to Norway at the incendiary FIFA conference | football news
The Griner family and their supporters are increasingly turning to President Biden and the U.S. government to seek Griner ’ s release.
Kagawa Kolas recently agreed a letter to Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, signed by groups such as the National Women's Organization, the Human Rights Campaign, the National Urban League and the National Action Network.
The letter calls on the government to make a deal to release Greiner.
In April, by agreeing to a prisoner exchange, Russia released Trevor Reed, a former U.S. Marine who was sentenced to nine years in prison on charges of endangering Russian police during an altercation.
Kimberly St. Julian-Farnon, Ph.D., said Reed ’ s deteriorating health in Russia was likely a factor in Moscow ’ s willingness to release him.
She is a student of history at the University of Pennsylvania, whose field of study is the experience of African Americans in the Soviet Union, Ukraine and Russia.
“The problem is that politically, Britney is worth a lot more in terms of prisoner trafficking than Trevor Reed, because of her profile, ” said St. Julian-Farnon, who advised the WNBA Players Association on Grenier ’ s detention.
Butt, an international arms dealer, was convicted by an American court and sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Russia is also interested in the release of Roman Seleznev, a hacker who was convicted in the United States for conducting a large-scale operation to steal credit cards and personal data and sentenced to 27 years in prison.
In addition to Greiner, Russia has also detained Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine sentenced to 16 years in prison for espionage.
“This is a classic dilemma in hostage-taking cases, ” said Thomas Firestone, a former Justice Department official who worked as a lawyer in Moscow.
“If you negotiate a release, you can encourage hostage-taking in the future.
If you don ’ t, a person may never be released. ”
Polarizing “chess player ” Medvedev harbors a dark side
Jake Sullivan, Biden ’ s national security adviser, told reporters on Tuesday that he and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken had spoken in recent days with Greiner ’ s wife Cheryl Greiner.
"The United States government is actively trying to solve this problem and bring Britney home," Sullivan said.
“He enjoys the full attention of the president and all senior members of his diplomatic and national security team, ” he added.
"We are actively working to find a solution to this problem and will continue to do so without rest until Britney returns home safely."
Russia announced on Tuesday that it had barred Biden, First Lady Jill Biden and others from entering the country in response to wide-ranging sanctions.
The list includes four senators: Republican Mitch McConnell from Kentucky, Susan Collins from Maine, Ben Sass from Nebraska and Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand from New York.
"Release Britney Grenier," Sassi said in a statement.
“It doesn ’ t matter when Putin throws a tantrum and blocks Americans from entering Russia, but we have a problem when he captures an American. ”
Griner is one of the most titled basketball players in the world – a seven-time participant of the WNBA All-Star Game, a two-time Olympic champion and the first openly gay athlete to sign an advertising contract with Nike.
I went to Russia after a two-week break to play for UMMC-Yekaterinburg, the women ’ s professional basketball team.
Since then, news about Griner has been rare and has mostly been spread by Russian state media, according to the Associated Press.
But Cheryl Greiner told AP that the long-planned telephone conversation between the two had not taken place due to a logistical error at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.
“I find this unacceptable and I don ’ t have confidence in our government right now, ” Cheryl Greiner told The Associated Press in late June.
“If I can ’ t trust you to call on a Saturday outside of office hours, how can I trust you to negotiate on behalf of my wife to come home? ”
How Russia and Ukraine became the heroines of the smear campaign.
In a radio interview Wednesday with Reverend Al Sharpton, who is also the founder of the National Action Network, Cheryl Greiner said she had not spoken to her wife since February but had received messages.
“She told me she was okay, ” Cheryl Grainer said of her wife ’ s letters.
She's like, "I'm fine, baby.
I'm tough.
I'm not me now.
When I get home, it'll take me a minute to recover, but I'm holding on.
I'm not gonna break until I get home.
I won't let them break me.
I know they ’ re trying, but I ’ ll do my best to keep going until I can get home. ”
Paris Hatcher was horrified to learn of the extension of Britney Grenier ’ s detention on Monday and to see a photo of Grenier circulated in Russian state media.
“She looks scared, ” said Hatcher, whose organization Black Feminist Future created the online campaign # BringBrittneyHome.
It's about dignity.
It is about human humanity.
She deserves to be in touch with her family. ”
St. Julian-Varnon said the rights of defendants in Russia are dramatically different from those of a person accused of committing a crime in the United States.
"You have no right to a jury trial," said St. Julian-Varnon.
Your lawyer has no right to call any witnesses they want.
The whole case against you and the case in your support is based on the evidence gathered by the state. ”
However, St. Julian-Varnon said she remained cautiously optimistic that Greiner could eventually be released either as a result of an exchange of prisoners or as a result of a conviction on a less serious charge and agreeing to a large fine.
“There are a lot of moving figures here, ” St. Julian-Varnon said.
“I want to be optimistic because it ’ s still her life.
It's Britney's life.
It's Cheryl's life. "

The US government considered Griner's detention wrongful and worked to bring her home.

Griner's case impacted US-Russia relations and led to a proposed prisoner swap for her release.

Title:

Content: Saudi News
Russia sentences American hero to nine years in prison
What's the reason?
...
Police took Grainer out of the courtroom in handcuffs, after the verdict was pronounced.
During that time, she turned to reporters and said, “I love my family. ”
Grainer, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and NBA star, was arrested in mid-February when she arrived to play for a Russian team after the NBA season ended.
The case has thrown Grainer, a Texan, at the heart of the geopolitical storm unleashed by Russian President Vladimir Putin when he pushed troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24, plunging relations between Washington and Moscow to a new low in the post-Cold War era.
Her sentencing could now pave the way for a prisoner exchange between Moscow and Washington involving a Russian athlete imprisoned in the United States.
Biden, under pressure to repatriate Americans held in Russia, called on Moscow to release Grainer immediately and said his administration would continue to work for her release.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Thursday the United States was urging Russia to accept a "serious proposal" made weeks ago by Washington for Grainer's return.
Russian prosecutors had asked the court to impose a nine-and-a-half year prison sentence on Grainer, who said in her closing arguments that bringing the cartridges to Russia was a “mistake of good faith ”.
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Russia agreed to exchange Griner for arms dealer Viktor Bout.

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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 prisoner swap, including Griner's release, was a rare positive development in US-Russia relations, but not expected to improve bilateral ties.

Griner was transferred to a penal colony in Mordovia, Russia, where she faced harsh conditions.

The US government prioritized Griner's release under President Biden.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken led the US government's efforts to free Griner with a substantial offer for her release.

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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 pleaded guilty to drug smuggling in Russia, facing up to 10 years in prison.

Title:

Content: Former WNBA star Brittney Griner, who won two U.S. Olympic gold medals in women's basketball, has pleaded guilty to smuggling drugs into Russia and faces up to 10 years in prison.
The 31-year-old female athlete was arrested at a Moscow airport in February after cannabis oil was found in her luggage and has been held on suspicion of drug smuggling.
According to the Russian state news agency, Graina pleaded guilty in court, but stressed that she did not intentionally violate the law. Graina said through an interpreter that she did not intentionally carry drugs, but that she accidentally brought them in when she was rushing to pack her bags.
After the court, she left without making any comment to reporters, and the next hearing was set for July 14.
Elizabeth Rood, deputy US ambassador to Moscow, told reporters after the hearing that she had spoken to Graina in court and said, “She ’ s in good spirits, she can eat, she can rest, she can study, and I think she ’ s doing very well under the circumstances. ”
"I reiterate the commitment of the United States government to bring Ms. Greene and all American citizens detained for the wrong reasons home safely," Rudd said.
Russian prosecutors accused her of smuggling less than a gram of sesame oil, so in the United States, she was used as a political bargaining chip by Russia.
Russia ’ s deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, was angered by the United States ’ characterization of Graina as “wrongly arrested ” and warned that“ attempts by the United States to propagate false statements will not help solve the problem. ”
Since the two scheduled witnesses did not appear, Graina ’ s trial was adjourned, and her temporary detention was granted until December 20, a delay that has been commonplace in Russian courts and seen as prolonging negotiations with the United States.
News outlets have repeatedly speculated that Graina could be used as a prisoner swap, such as Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer known as the “merchant of death, ” who has regularly supplied arms to guerrilla groups for decades, and who is said to have been partly referenced in the character archetypes of the film King of Arms.
Bout was arrested in Thailand in 2008 and extradited to the United States in 2010, where he was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Another possible candidate is Paul Nicholas Whelan, a former Marine Corps security chief who was convicted by Russia of conspiring to become a spy and sentenced to 16 years.
Brittney Griner pleads guilty to drug charges in Russian court
# Glenna # Russia # USA # Confession # WNBA

Griner's detention was seen as a political pawn in US-Russia relations.

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Content: The BDN Editorial Board operates independently from the newsroom, and does not set policies or contribute to reporting or editing articles elsewhere in the newspaper or on bangordailynews.com.

American basketball star Brittney Griner has been detained in Russia since February. She has been facing drug possession charges for carrying vape cartridges in her luggage that contained cannabis oil. The charges carry a potential sentence of up to 10 years in jail.

Griner pleaded guilty to the drug charges in Russian court Thursday, while stressing that she had packed in a hurry and not intended to break Russian law. Regardless of Thursday’s plea, observers have not expected Griner to receive justice in the Russian legal system.

Griner’s wife, Cherelle, has accurately called her a “political pawn” caught up in the fraught relationship between the U.S. and Russia amid the latter’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine. There should be little doubt that Griner’s detention is bigger than vape cartridges.

With frustrations increasingly being voiced by Griner’s family that President Joe Biden and his administration haven’t been doing enough to help her, Griner sent a letter to Biden on Monday asking for assistance for herself and other American detainees. For example, Paul Whelan, who also previously served in the Marines, was accused of being a spy and sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2020.

“As I sit here in a Russian prison, alone with my thoughts and without the protection of my wife, family, friends, Olympic jersey, or any accomplishments, I’m terrified I might be here forever,” Griner wrote in her July 4 letter to Biden.

Marine veteran Trevor Reed knows a thing or two about what Griner and Whelan are going through. Reed was detained in Russia for three years before being released in April as part of a prisoner exchange.

“There is no justice in Russia,” Reed told CNN in June. “Brittney and Paul will not receive justice in Russia. They’re not going to receive a fair trial, they will not receive a fair investigation. They will be there as hostages until the United States gets them out.”

He added that Griner was likely to be treated worse in Russia because of her race and sexual orientation, saying that the country “systematically discriminates” against Black and LGBTQ+ people.

There is only so much the Biden administration can do with Griner in the custody of an authoritarian government known for making examples out of political prisoners, and likely looking for a bargaining chip as it continues its barbaric invasion of Ukraine. Though as demonstrated by Reed’s release, there are options. It must not take three years.

At the very least, for now, Biden and his team can control how they communicate and reassure Griner’s family. And on that front, it seems the administration had been coming up short.

Griner’s family and friends had criticized the Biden administration’s handling of her case, and called for the president to meet with them. On Wednesday, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris finally had a phone call with Cherelle Griner.

“The president called Cherelle to reassure her that he is working to secure Brittney’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 after the call. “He also read her a draft of the letter the president is sending to Brittney today.”

That statement also noted that top administration officials have already had calls with Cherelle Griner in recent weeks, and said Biden has directed his national security team to stay in “regular contact” with the Griner family. A U.S. diplomat said they delivered Biden’s letter to Griner at Thursday’s proceedings.

Biden’s call with Griner’s wife was an initial step, and the ultimate goal must be a quick release for Griner and other political prisoners. There is much work left for the administration to do, including a continual commitment to assure Griner’s family that the U.S. is exploring all possible options to secure her release. And hopefully the attention will elevate the pressure to help return other Americans like Whelan as well.

“Write them, call them, annoy them, don’t leave them alone,” Reed said in June about pressuring federal representatives to act. “Tell them you want Brittney home and you want the rest of the Americans who are being wrongfully detained home, and you want it done now.”

Add us to the list of people looking to raise the pressure on the Biden administration to bring home wrongfully detained Americans like Griner, who are essentially hostages, and to bring them home quickly.

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The Bangor Daily News editorial board members are Publisher Richard J. Warren, Editorial Page Editor Susan Young, Assistant Editorial Page Editor Matt Junker and BDN President Todd Benoit. Young has worked...

Griner asked President Biden for help, amid criticism of the administration's handling of her case.

Griner was released from Russian prison after 10 months in an exchange for Viktor Bout.

Title:

Content: 10 months in prison in Russia.
American basketball player releases book on 'cruel' memoirs
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Basketball player Britney Grainer announced on Tuesday that she is preparing a book about her 10-month imprisonment in Russia until December 2023, after being released in an exchange deal between Moscow and Washington.
Britney Grainer said: “That day in February was the beginning of an incomprehensible period in my life, and I ’ m now ready to share it.
The main reason I returned to Russia at the time was that I wanted my wife (lesbian), family and colleagues to be proud of me.
After 10 very difficult months behind bars, I am grateful that I have been rescued and that I am at home.
Readers will listen to my story and understand why I am so grateful for the support of people from all over the world. ”
The book of the American national team player and the UMMC team from the Russian city of Yekaterinburg is scheduled to be published in the spring of 2024.
In February 2022, Britney Grainer was detained at Moscow ’ s Sheremetyevo International Airport on charges of attempting to smuggle drugs into Russia.
The Moscow District Court of Khimki sentenced the American basketball player to 9.5 years in prison and a fine of 1 million rubles (about $20,000) after she was convicted of smuggling and keeping drugs – hashish oil.
Britney Greiner, who was detained in Russia from February to December 2023, was released in an exchange deal with Russian businessman Viktor Bout, and the exchange took place at Abu Dhabi airport, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.
Britney Grainer, 32, won the 2014 Basketball World Cup in Turkey, the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the 2018 World Cup in Spain and the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Prior to her arrest, she played for the UMMC Ekaterinburg basketball team from the Russian city of Yekaterinburg.
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The Russian penal colony where Griner was held has poor conditions, brutality, and forced labor of up to 16 hours a day.

Title:

Content: International
International news.
The camps are worse than the prisons.
A Russian court on Thursday sentenced U.S. basketball star Britney Galina to prison in a penal colony that U.S. media say treats inmates worse than prisons, where guards intimidate inmates, who are sometimes forced to work as long as 16 hours a day.
The camps evolved from Soviet-era labor camps and are now scattered in different parts of Siberia, many of them in barracks. Although the treatment of prisoners has improved, they are still accused of brutality, overcrowding and poor conditions.
A member of the Russian anti-government band Pussy Riot said in 2012 that she had served a prison term without hot water, warm clothes or medicine, and that people who were sick could die.
Last year, Navalny, the leader of Russia ’ s largest opposition party, was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for violating the conditions of a suspended sentence for corruption in 2014.
In an interview with the New York Times last year, he said that the prison schedule included five hours of daily television viewing, and prisoners were forced to watch national television and propaganda films.
Former prisoners said they were being abused and forced to watch propaganda films.
Konstantin Kotov, a Russian activist who served 18 months in a detention facility, told the Associated Press last year that prison guards at the facility intimidated prisoners for trivial matters, such as failing to greet police officers.
Prisoners are required to stand for seven to eight hours, sit upright, with their feet folded, and their arms resting on their knees without any movement. Even scratching their noses requires permission from the inmates who are responsible for reporting the behavior of the prisoners to the prison guards.
William Pomeranz, a Russian research expert at the Kennan Institute at the Washington think tank Wilson Center, said many of the places were isolated in Siberia, where she did not know anyone, was difficult for outsiders to visit, and the environment could be harsh, and if she was sent there, it would be a great test for her mental state.
(New York Times / Newsweek)
Related words: Brittney Griner in Russia
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Griner faced difficulties in the Russian penitentiary system, partly due to not knowing the language.

Title:

Content: Former prisoner in Russian punishment colony reveals to CNN what American Grainer can expect after 9 years in prison
The world.
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Nadezhda Tolokonikova, from the group "Female Riot", spent nearly two years in a penal colony after demonstrating against Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Tolokonikova explained what American basketball player Britney Grainer could expect after she was sentenced to nine years in prison for drug trafficking and shared the harsh conditions that occur in the Russian penal colonies.
Tolokonikova said she believed it would be “particularly difficult for Britney because she doesn ’ t know Russian, she can ’ t learn the law she has to abide by in the penal colony, and she can ’ t protect herself. ”
“The worst thing about a penal colony is watching the death of others around you and not being able to do anything.
People die from hard physical work and not being able to get the medical treatment they need.
But you're just another prisoner.
You can't do anything about it.
You just have to witness this cruelty and know that something like this can happen to you as well. ”
Tolokonikova revealed the motivation that kept her alive, saying: "The most important thing now is to minimize the trauma that she will endure during this time period.
Thinking about your loved ones who are waiting for you and who need you, don ’ t give up on your life.
Things like finding a beautiful flower and thinking that this beautiful flower was able to grow in these terrible and terrifying conditions in this nightmarish world prompted me to stay alive and not lose faith that there would be life outside the punitive colony. ”
Tolokonikova concluded: “I hope Britney will come home as soon as possible and experience as little trauma as possible in her condition.
I ’ m really looking forward to reuniting her with her family. ”

Griner spent 294 days in Russian custody, experiencing psychological torture.

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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Griner was taken to Brooke Army Medical Center for medical treatment and mental health evaluations.

Griner expressed gratitude to President Joe Biden and the US government after being freed and returning home.

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's release was a major diplomatic victory for the Biden Administration.

Title:

Content: “How good at home ”: Brittney Greiner returned from Russia
|
Madeleine Grishina
Madeleine Grishina Reiter editorial office of the Fifth Channel website
41
Basketball player Greiner thanked Biden for protection and expressed intention to return to the sport
Photo: © RIA Novosti / RIA Novosti
Read us in: Zen News
Five days after the exchange, the basketball player announced her intention to return to Russia.
Now her life is returning to its usual course, she is well at home.
Convicted in Russia for drug smuggling basketball player Brittney Greiner gave the first comment after returning to the United States.
In the social network, she noted how well she is still at home and thanked the Russian lawyers for their work.
“It ’ s so good to be home!
The last 10 months have been battles at every turn.
I dug deep to preserve my faith, and it was the love of many of you that helped me move forward.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your help, ” Greiner said.
She also expressed “special thanks for protecting ” U.S. President Joe Biden and State Department Secretary Anthony Blinken, as well as the entire White House administration.
She plans to return to the sport soon.
By the way, the basketball player was exchanged for the Russian Viktor Bout on December 8 under an agreement between Moscow and Washington.
In the United States, he was found guilty of trafficking in weapons and supporting terrorists, local media presented the Russian “seller of death ”,“ the most dangerous Russian ” and provided him with the glory of the arms baron.
Greiner was detained at the Moscow airport in February with banned substances.
She was sentenced to nine years in prison for drug smuggling.
The exchange of a “dealer of death ” for an athlete caught with drugs was considered unequal by many in the United States.
While the contract was being executed, the American ex-diplomat Mark Vogel, who was convicted under the same article as his compatriot, was perplexed in a Russian prison.
Earlier, 5-tv.ru told how Viktor Bout feels.
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Griner's story highlights the complexities of international diplomacy in protecting American citizens abroad.