Russian Court Upholds WNBA Star Britney Griner’s Nine-Year Jail
Russian court on Tuesday upheld American basketball star Britney GrinerA session in which she appeared on a video call from a penal colony outside Moscow dismissed her appeal. I haven’t checked yet.
In its ruling, the court said the amount of time Griner would have to serve in prison would be recalculated to take into account pretrial detention, as one day of pretrial detention counts as 1.5 days in prison. , the basketball star must serve about eight years in prison.
The decision paved the way for the WNBA star to serve his sentence in a penal colony unless the U.S. government negotiates.
The eight-time All-Star center, home to WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury and two-time Olympic gold medalist, said police found an e-cigarette canister containing cannabis oil in her luggage at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport. He was found guilty on August 4th.
“This was a very traumatic experience. Waiting for this day, waiting for the first court, getting nine years for a crime I was barely over a fair amount,” Griner said Tuesday. “I’ve been here almost eight months, and I don’t understand the first court’s decision, which sentenced me to a year shorter than the longest, and I’m afraid I’ll have to commit a more serious crime.” The people I did were given less sentences than I was given because being away from my family and not being able to communicate was very stressful and very traumatic both mentally and emotionally. , the court intends to amend this ruling.”
“Their legal system is very different from ours, but even for the Russian legal system, there is no doubt that her original sentence was extreme,” the WNBA said on Tuesday. “This appeal is further confirmation that BG is not only being unjustly held. Let’s… we must stand together, stand by the promises made by the Biden administration and congressional leaders, and do everything possible to get her home.”
Earlier this month, Britney’s wife, Sherrel Grinertold CBS Morning co-host Gayle King that he fears the fate of the WNBA star.
“It’s like a movie to me. I never thought that our president and a foreign president would have to sit down and talk about wives’ freedom.” It feels like she’s a hostage, just like everyone says they have different definitions of BG,” Cherelle said.
“It must scare you,” King replied.
“It scares me because when you watch a movie, sometimes those situations don’t end well. Sometimes the person doesn’t come back,” Sherrell said. Washington, days before Russia sent troops to Ukraine. At the time, Griner was back in Russia playing in the US League offseason.
During the trial, Griner admitted to having a canister in her luggage, but inadvertently stuffed it in haste and testified that she had no criminal intent. submitted a written statement that he was prescribed cannabis for
After conviction, Griner’s lawyers argued that the sentence was excessive, with prison terms of up to nine years running for nearly 10 years. They said defendants in similar cases were sentenced to an average of about five years in prison, and about one-third were granted parole.
Prior to her conviction, the U.S. State Department declared Griner “wrongfully detained” — something Russia categorically denied.
Reflecting mounting pressure on the Biden administration to do more to bring Griner home, Secretary of State Antony Brinken has said Washington, along with Paul Whelan, would have a “substantial effort” to bring Griner home. took the unusual step of publicly revealing in July that it had made a An American serving a 16-year sentence in Russia for espionage.
Blinken didn’t elaborate, but the Associated Press and other news outlets said Washington offered to exchange Griner and Whelan for former Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who serves a 25-year sentence in the United States. reported. “Merchant of Death”.
The White House said it has yet to receive a productive response from Russia to the proposal.
A Russian diplomat declined to comment on the US proposal, urging Washington to avoid public statements and discuss the issue in secret talks.
In September, U.S. President Joe Biden met with Britney’s wife, Sherrell, and the player’s agent, Lindsay Colas. Biden also sat separately with Elizabeth Whelan, sister of Paul Whelan. .
The White House said after the meeting that the president emphasized to the family his “continued commitment to use all means available to bring Britney and Paul back home safely.”
The Biden administration conducted a prisoner exchange in April, and in exchange for Moscow releasing Marine veteran Trevor Reed, the United States released Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot convicted of drug trafficking conspiracy.
Moscow is also protesting the arrest of another Russian citizen, Aleksandr Vinnik, who is currently in U.S. custody. was detained in Greece before being released. It was not clear whether Russia would demand Vinnik’s release as part of a potential exchange.
https://www.cbsnews.com/dfw/news/brittney-griner-wnba-appeal-russian-court-against-9-year-sentence/ Russian Court Upholds WNBA Star Britney Griner’s Nine-Year Jail