Category: Brittney Griner

WNBA star Brittney Griner has been held in Russia since February of this year. When Russia invaded Ukraine, the American State Department told Americans in Russia to GTFO as soon as possible. Griner was stopped at the airport and the Russian security found her carrying weed cartridges, so they got her on a drug charge. Since February, Russia has made an example of Griner, allowing the Western media glimpses of her in prison and in court. She was convicted of smuggling in August, and sentenced to nine years in a penal colony. We’ve known this whole time that the State Dept and Biden administration has been negotiating her release, and we also knew a prisoner swap was likely on the table. Finally, the government got it done. Brittney was released today!!

Brittney Griner, the WNBA star who was held for months in Russian prisons on drug charges, was released Thursday in a one-for-one prisoner swap for international arms dealer Viktor Bout, according to a U.S. official. The one-for-one exchange agreement negotiated with Moscow in recent weeks was given final approval by President Biden within just the last week, according to sources familiar with the deal. The swap, first reported by CBS News, took place on Thursday in the United Arab Emirates.

Five former U.S. officials told CBS News the agreement had been reached as of last Thursday.

A White House official said President Biden was in the Oval Office Thursday morning on the phone, speaking with Griner and her wife, and that Vice President Kamala Harris was also in the room. Per standard procedure for freed U.S. prisoners, Griner was expected to quickly undergo a medical evaluation.

To secure Griner’s release, the president ordered Bout to be freed and returned to Russia. Mr. Biden signed the commutation order cutting short Bout’s 25-year federal prison sentence.

Notably, the Griner-for-Bout exchange leaves retired U.S. Marine Paul Whelan imprisoned in Russia. Whelan has been in Russian custody for nearly four years. He was convicted on espionage charges that the U.S. has called false.

[From CBS News]

In November, there was a flurry of activity and reporting around the negotiations and some even said that Russia might have walked away from the table. But they absolutely wanted Viktor Bout back and so here we are. Griner was always going to be treated differently by both countries – Russia was eager to make an example out of the star American athlete, and America was eager to get a high-profile celebrity back home. I’m honestly surprised that it’s such a straight-forward one-for-one prisoner swap, although there’s probably other stuff that we don’t know about right now. Also: there are so many rumors that Vladimir Putin’s health is in serious decline. I wonder if that was a factor too? Hm.

Moments ago I spoke to Brittney Griner.

She is safe.

She is on a plane.

She is on her way home. pic.twitter.com/FmHgfzrcDT

— President Biden (@POTUS) December 8, 2022

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Instagram.

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A couple of weeks ago, Brittney Griner’s appeal was denied, with the appeals court upholding the original sentence of nine years in a Russian penal colony. At the time, her lawyers said that any move was likely to take a while. It didn’t take long. Brittney is currently being transferred to a penal colony. Neither her lawyers nor US embassy officials have been notified of her current location or her final destination. Only Russian officials know and, according to the Associated Press, they did not even notify the US embassy of Brittney’s transfer ahead of time and haven’t responded to any inquiries.

Brittney Griner is being transferred to a penal colony in Russia where she is set to begin her nine-year sentence for carrying cannabis oil into the country.

The U.S. women’s basketball star, 32, was sentenced last month after being arrested in February at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport on “drug smuggling charges”. President Biden had been trying to negotiate a deal to get Griner back on U.S. soil, saying she had been “wrongfully detained,” but was denied, though the White House has continued to pursue efforts.

Griner “is now on her way to a penal colony,” Griner’s attorneys Maria Blagovolina and Alexander Boykov said in a statement on Wednesday. “We do not have any information on her exact current location or her final destination.”

“In accordance with the standard Russian procedure, the attorneys, as well as the U.S. Embassy, should be notified upon her arrival at her destination. Notification is given via official mail and normally takes up to two weeks to be received.”

In a statement to PEOPLE following Griner’s initial sentencing in August, her attorneys voiced that the verdict was “absolutely unreasonable” and said they will “certainly file an appeal.”

However, after the appeal was rejected in October, Griner’s lawyers told PEOPLE that she is “a very strong person” and “has a champion’s character.”

[From People]

US embassy officials met with Brittney last Thursday, November 3, and said she was doing “as well as can be expected under the circumstances.” On Friday the 4th, Brittney was moved from the detention center and is on her way to a penal colony somewhere in Russia. According to USA TODAY, the transfer can take several weeks and only when she reaches her destination will her lawyers be notified by snail mail, which will take another two weeks. The article adds: “The family of [Paul] Whelan, another American who is currently wrongfully detained by Russia, previously [said] that during transport, Griner would be placed in a small, windowless railroad car with no information about her destination. She will have no communication with her legal team, U.S. officials or her family. ‘They disappear off the face of the earth.’” USA TODAY has a detailed breakdown, including information about what life is like in Russian penal colonies.

Various Biden administration officials have released statements about Brittney’s wrongful detention, unjust transfer, and treatment. They also reiterated their commitment to bringing her home. At a press conference about the midterms, President Biden said he is “determined to get her home” and that his “hope is that now that the election is over, that Mr. Putin will be able to discuss with us and be willing to talk more seriously about a prisoner exchange.” Brittney’s agent also put out a statement, but her family declined to do so. They’re obviously heartbroken and scared of what might happen. This is a horrible situation and based on what I’ve read about penal colonies, I really hope something is done soon.

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This Brittney Griner saga has been going on for most of 2022. She was detained for cannabis possession in Russia in February, her trial began in July, and she was convicted and sentenced to nine years in prison in August. The Biden administration has offered a “substantial deal” to Russia for the release of Brittney and another American prisoner, Paul Whelan, but so far Russian hasn’t taken it. Brittney’s defense team filed an appeal of the verdict back in August and just yesterday it was denied. The appeals court upheld the original sentence to send Brittney to a penal colony.

A Russian court upheld WNBA star Brittney Griner’s nine-year prison sentence on Tuesday, a decision that will send the U.S. athlete to a penal colony.

The court near Moscow upheld the original sentence which the state prosecutor called “fair.”

Griner has about eight years left on her sentence though another appeal is possible through Russia’s court of cassation, the highest court of appeals. It is not clear if her lawyers will pursue another appeal.

“We think we should use all legal tools available but that is her decision to take,” Maria Blagovolina, Griner’s lawyer, told reporters outside of the court. Blagovolina added that the two-time Olympic gold medalist was disappointed to hear the decision from the three-judge panel.

“She had some hope but that vanished today,” Blagovolina said.

Griner, who plays professional basketball in Russia during the WNBA offseason, was arrested in February after Russian authorities found vape canisters containing cannabis oil in her luggage at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport.

Her lawyers said Griner only uses cannabis medically and unintentionally packed the cannabis canisters in her suitcase because the professional athlete was in a hurry.

Under Russian law, the charge carried a penalty of up to 10 years in prison. In August, Griner was found guilty and sentenced to nine years. She was also ordered to pay 1 million rubles, approximately $16,301.

Griner’s lawyers added that they will see the 32-year-old athlete, who appeared in court via video conference, next week. Blagovolina said that Griner last spoke to her family by telephone one week ago.

The White House called for Griner’s immediate release following Tuesday’s “sham judicial proceeding.”

“The president has demonstrated that he is willing to go to extraordinary lengths and make tough decisions to bring Americans home, as his administration has done successfully from countries around the world,” national security advisor Jake Sullivan wrote in a statement.

Sullivan added that the Biden administration remains in regular touch with the families of wrongfully detained U.S. citizens.

[From CNBC]

According to the article, it’s unclear whether her lawyers will appeal again. Initially, I had concerns that her court-appointed lawyers would be as much of a sham as the trial turned out to be, but from what’s reported it does seem like they tried their best for her. They seem to be facilitating conversations with her family as much as they are able and bringing her what they can, such as birthday cards and photos. In a heartbreaking story on ESPN, the lawyers offered to bring her a basketball since her location has a hoop but no ball. But Brittney declined, saying it was too painful. The ESPN story, written before the appeals decision, also talks about the potential prison camp location. Apparently the camp to which she was sentenced has worse conditions and more potential for mistreatment, but Brittney’s lawyers say she can request a location close to them in Moscow and any move is likely to take a while. Also notable, the CNBC article about the appeals decision says she has about eight years left, which seems to indicate they’re counting the past year as part of the time served. Hopefully the White House is still in contact with Russia about bringing Brittney and Paul home. I’ve also seen speculation that Russia is unlikely to take further action — whether that be moving Brittney to the prison camp or accepting the White House deal — until after the midterms, so keep an eye on that.

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photos credit: Backgrid and Getty

WNBA superstar Brittney Griner has been wrongfully detained in Russia for about four months at this point. Her detention has been extended three times, with the most recent extension being to next week, July 2. The US has had limited access to her and the US government has officially classified her as a wrongfully detained person. It is unclear what’s being done to ensure her safe return, but it is thought by many experts that Russia is angling for a prisoner exchange.

However, the most recent fustercluck involving Brittney’s case is not Russia’s fault. America can take full responsibility for this one. Brittany’s wife of four years, Cherelle, was scheduled to speak to her for their anniversary. But the American embassy had no one there to connect the call.

Since being detained by Russian authorities in February, seven-time WNBA All-Star Brittney Griner has been unable to speak to her wife, Cherelle Griner.

According to the Associated Press, the Russian government approved a call last Saturday so the couple could speak on their fourth wedding anniversary. But Cherelle waited by the phone for hours, and the call never came through.

In an interview with the outlet, Cherelle claims Brittney’s lawyers said her wife called a number given to her at the U.S. embassy in Moscow nearly a dozen times over “several hours.”

The calls — which the couple believed would connect Brittney to Cherelle in Arizona — were never answered because the desk at the embassy where the phone rang was allegedly unstaffed on Saturday.

“I find it unacceptable, and I have zero trust in our government right now,” Cherelle told AP. “If I can’t trust you to catch a Saturday call outside of business hours, how can I trust you to actually be negotiating on my wife’s behalf to come home? Because that’s a much bigger ask than to catch a Saturday call.”

Cherelle told the outlet that the incident left her “not well.”

Representatives for Griner and the U.S. State Department did not immediately return PEOPLE’s request for comment on Tuesday.

Griner’s agent, Lindsay Kagawa Colas, said, “my heart breaks into pieces every time I think of it,” in a post on Twitter.

“It’s nothing compared to the reality [Brittney] and her family are enduring,” she added.

In a statement to AP, a State Department representative said, “We deeply regret that Brittney Griner was unable to speak with her wife because of a logistical error.”

Cherelle told AP a U.S. government representative has since apologized to her. The number Brittney was given typically processes calls from prisoners on Mondays through Fridays but not weekends, which is why no one was there to transfer the call, she added.

“But mind you,” Cherelle said in the interview with the outlet, “this phone call had been scheduled for almost two weeks — with a weekend date.”

[From People]

To recap: Russia approved a scheduled call for the couple, Brittney repeatedly called the US embassy in Moscow so they could connect her to her wife, and no one picked up because no one works at the US embassy on weekends. The call was scheduled two weeks in advance. WTF. What a complete failure. Cherelle hasn’t seen her wife in four months because she is in Russian detention; the US government has failed to bring Brittney home and they can’t even handle a call scheduled two weeks in advance because it’s on a weekend. Could they not afford the overtime or does no one care? I’d say they deserve a big apology, but they deserve much, much more than that and what they’re currently getting from the US government. What Cherelle says — if she can’t trust the government to handle a scheduled call, how can she trust them to negotiate Brittney’s safe release — is very sad and very true.