Is Brittney Griner wrongfully detained? Basketball star to appeal case in Russian court
MOSCOW, RUSSIA: Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner, who was sentenced to nine years in prison for drug charges, will be appealing in Russian court on Tuesday, October 25. Her lawyers said that the sentence was "very severe for this type of crime and this amount of this substance." As Griner was detained before Russia's war against Ukraine, CNN reported that the US State Department claimed she was being wrongfully detained and was being used as a political pawn amid the war. US President Joe Biden has also been in touch with Russia for the release of the basketball star along with Paul Whelan.
Griner was taken into custody on February 17 after she was caught carrying less than a gram of cannabis oil in her luggage while traveling to Russia during the offseason of the WNBA. She pleaded guilty in July after she accepted that the cannabis oil vape cartridges were in her luggage as she said she was packing her bag in a hurry.
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Nearly three months after being sentenced, Griner will be appealing her verdict in the Russian court on the accounts of the verdict being unfair and unjustified. As per CNN, the 32-year-old player would be attending the hearing via video conferencing. According to her lawyers, Alexander Boykov of the Moscow Legal Center and Maria Blagovolina, a partner at Rybalkin, Gortsunyan, Dyakin, and Partners law firm, the outcomes could either lead to the court not changing the verdict, sending it back to a lower court or a reduced sentence.
Boykov said that if the appeal leads to the Khimki city court's decision being upheld, the "legal process will be basically over." As for the Olympic gold medalist, she was reportedly concerned that she would have to serve the remaining sentence in the event of her appeal being unsuccessful. The US was also trying to strike a deal for swapping the prisons of the offenders. They wish to have Griner and Whelan back to the US in exchange for the convicted Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout. Whelan, an American, was convicted and sentenced in 2020 to 16 years in the Russian prison in spite of consistently denying his charges.
In a written statement, Blagovolina and Boykov told about the strengths and struggles of Griner ahead of the hearing. According to the outlet, they said, "Brittney is very strong person and has a champion’s character. However, she of course has her highs and lows as she is severely stressed being separated from her loved ones for over eight months." They also added, "She is very nervous waiting for the appeal hearing. Brittney does not expect any miracles to happen but hopes that the appeal court will hear the arguments of the defense and reduce the term."