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US basketball star Brittney Griner was sentenced to Thursday in Russia for drug possession and was sentenced to nine years in prison after a politically charged trial who came in the midst of tension between Moscow and Washington for Ukraine and could cause high-risk prisoners between the two worlds to strength . The 31-year-old Griner, the US Olympiad champion twice and the All-Star eight times with Phoenix Mercury WNBA listened to an empty expression as a language interpreter translated the decision by Judge Anna Sotnikova. The judge also fined 1 million rubles (around $ 16,700).
US President Joe Biden condemned the verdict and punishment as “unacceptable.” “I call Russia to immediately free him so that he can be with his wife, loved ones, friends, and teammates,” Biden said, adding that he would continue to work to bring home griner and Paul Whela, an American imprisoned in Russia in Russia in Russia in Russia Russia is in espionage beliefs. Previously in the session, with all confidences but surely, emotional griner filed the last appeal to the court for the relief of punishment. He said he had no intention of breaking the law by carrying a vape cartridge with cannabis oil when he flew to Moscow in February to play basketball in the city of Yekaterinburg.
“I want to apologize to my teammates, my club, my fans and the city (Yekaterinburg) for my mistakes that I made and the shame that I brought,” Griner said, his voice broke. “I also want to apologize to my parents, my brother, the Phoenix Mercury organization at home, an extraordinary woman from WNBA, and my extraordinary partner at home.” Under Russian law, a 31 -year -old griner faces 10 years in prison, but the judge has a large latitude of the sentence. If he is not free, attention will turn to the possibility of the exchange of high -risk prisoners proposed last week by US Secretary Antony Blinken to his Russian colleague.
Griner said he made a “honest mistake” in carrying a vape cartridge to Russia, adding: “I hope that your decision will not end my life.” Griner said Yekaterinburg, a city to the east of the Ural Mountains, has become a “second home.” “I don’t know that the team, cities, fans, my teammates will make an extraordinary impression on me for 6 1/2 years that I spent here,” he said. “I remember clearly out of the gym and all the little girls in the stands there were waiting for me, and that was what kept making me back here.”
Prosecutor Nikolai Vlasenko insisted that Griner packed marijuana oil intentionally, and he asked the court to provide a fine of 1 million rubles (around $ 16,700) in addition to prison sentences. Lawyers for the Phoenix Mercury Center and the Olympic gold medalist twice have tried to support Griner’s opinion that he has no criminal intentions and that the tube ended in the trunk accidentally. They gave a character witness from the Yekaterinburg team that he played in the WNBA offseason and wrote the testimony of a doctor who said he prescribed him for pain treatment due to injury suffered in his basketball career.
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His lawyer, Maria Blagovolina, argued that Griner only used marijuana in Arizona, where medical marijuana was legal. He stressed that Griner packed in a hurry after a tiring flight and suffered the consequences of the Covid-19. Blagovolina also shows that the analysis of cannabis found in the ownership of Griner Disabilities and violates legal procedures.
Blagovolina asked the court to free Griner, noteing that she had no criminal records in the past and called out her role in the “Russian basketball development.” Another defense lawyer, Alexander Boykov, emphasized the role of Griner in taking the Yekaterinburg team to win several championships, noted that he was loved and admired by his teammates. He told the judge that the punishment would ruin Russia’s efforts to develop national sports and make Moscow’s call to demonstrate sports.
Boykov added that even after his arrest, Griner won the sympathy of both guards and prison inmates, who supported him by shouting, “Brittney, everything will be fine!” When he walked in prison. Before the trial began in July, the Department of Foreign Affairs set him as “detained wrongly,” Moving his case under the supervision of a special presidential messenger for hostage affairs, effectively the government’s main hostage negotiator.
Then last week, in an extraordinary step, Blinken spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, urged him to receive an agreement in which Griner and Whelan would be free. Lavrov-Blinken’s nickname marked the highest level of contact between Washington and Moscow since Russia sent troops to Ukraine more than five months ago. Direct outreach of griner is contrary to US efforts to isolate Kremlin.
People who are familiar with the proposal say it imagined the griner and whelan trade for the battle of famous weapons traders Viktor, who served prison sentences in the United States. It underlines the public pressure faced by the White House to get the griner released. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Monday that Russia had made a “bad faith” response to the US government’s offer, a back offer that was not taken seriously by American officials. He refused to explain. Russian officials mocked the US statement about this case, said they showed disrespect for Russian law. They remain poker faces, urged Washington to discuss this issue through “calm diplomacy without speculative information release.”
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