Brittney Griner Looks Terrified In 1st Clear Photos Of WNBA Star Arrested In Russia 4 Months Ago
Brittney Griner Looks Terrified In 1st Clear Photos Of WNBA Star Arrested In Russia 4 Months Ago Four months after she was arrested in Moscow on charges of cannabis possession, WNBA star Brittney Griner appeared in court for a preliminary hearing while handcuffed and looking distraught.
The world has been hanging tight for news about Brittney Griner after she was kept at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport, seven days before Russia sent troops into Ukraine, per the Associated Press. From that point forward, Brittney, 31, has stayed in Russian authority on charges of enormous scope transportation of medications. In the principal clear photographs of the American game’s star since her capture, Brittney seemed uneased as she was driven into a primer hearing at a court in the Moscow suburb of Khimki. The shut entryways hearing expanded Griner’s detainment for an additional half-year. Her preliminary at present has a July 1 date, per the AP.
Brittney showed up in May when the Russian authorities broadened her confinement period for one more month. In any case, her face was clouded by her long hair as she held her head down. The WNBA star likewise wore an orange hoodie that aided conceal her face.
At first, Brittney’s supporters had taken a low profile hoping for a quick and quiet resolution. When those efforts fell apart in May, the State Department reclassified her as wrongfully detained, per the AP, and then shifted her case to its special presidential envoy for hostage affairs. Basically, the United States government’s chief negotiator is on the case.
“There is one person that can go get her, and that’s our President,” Brittney’s wife, Cherelle Griner told ESPN in an interview airing May 25. “He has that power. I’m just like, ‘Why are we not using it? Like, urgently, use it.’ We’re expecting him to use his power to get it done.” In another interview, Cherelle said, “I just keep hearing that, you know, [Biden] has the power. She’s a political pawn. So if they’re holding her because they want you to do something, then I want you to do it.”
The AP reports that Brittney might be included in a prisoner swap, with Russian news media raising speculation that she might be exchanged for Viktor Bout, a Russian arms trader nicknamed “The Merchant of Death.” Viktor is serving a 25-year sentence on conviction of conspiracy to kill U.S. citizens and providing aid to a terrorist organization. Brittney was arrested for having vape cartridges containing cannabis oil, while Bout’s crimes are involved in the deadly global arms trade. So, such a swap would seem like a poor deal on the U.S.’s side.
If convicted, Brittney could face up to 10 years in prison. The AP reports that “fewer than 1% of defendants in Russian criminal cases are acquitted, and unlike in the U.S., acquittals can be overturned.”