Former US Ambassador to the UN Bill Richardson predicted Sunday that US citizens Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner, who are imprisoned in Russia, will be freed in a “two-for-two” prisoner swap with Moscow.
“I’m optimistic. I think she’s going to be free,” Richardson said of WNBA star Griner on ABC’s “This Week.”
“There’s gonna be a prisoner swap, though, and I think it’ll be two-for-two, involving Paul Whelan. We can’t forget him.”
Griner was sentenced last week to nine years in a penal colony for drug possession and smuggling, after pleading guilty to drug possession charges. Whelan, a former US Marine, is three years into a 16-year sentence on spying charges, which he and the US deny.
Richardson dodged questions about whether educator Marc Fogel, who is facing 14 years for drug possession and smuggling, would also be included in swap talks.
“All of these that are wrongfully detained need to come home,” Richardson said.
He added that his foundation, The Richardson Center, is involved in talks about the release of three other Americans held by Russia, but that he was a “catalyst” for what would ultimately be a government-to-government agreement.
The Biden administration reportedly floated a potential prisoner swap last month in which Griner and Whelan would be released in exchange for convicted Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout. Officials have publicly confirmed that they offered an exchange but have not explicitly said if it involved Bout.
President Biden on Friday said he’s “hopeful” about Griner’s situation, though White House officials declined to say if there were specific developments that led him to feel that way.
Richardson on Sunday commended Biden for considering the exchange with Bout, though he said “I would have done it quietly.”
“Our objective should be, despite prisoner exchanges that are not popular, to bring American hostages home. Some of these prisoner exchanges are not good. The optics are not good. But we have to do it sometimes,” he said.
Former US Ambassador to the UN Bill Richardson predicted Sunday that US citizens Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner, who are imprisoned in Russia, will be freed in a “two-for-two” prisoner swap with Moscow.
“I’m optimistic. I think she’s going to be free,” Richardson said of WNBA star Griner on ABC’s “This Week.”
“There’s gonna be a prisoner swap, though, and I think it’ll be two-for-two, involving Paul Whelan. We can’t forget him.”
Griner was sentenced last week to nine years in a penal colony for drug possession and smuggling, after pleading guilty to drug possession charges. Whelan, a former US Marine, is three years into a 16-year sentence on spying charges, which he and the US deny.
Richardson dodged questions about whether educator Marc Fogel, who is facing 14 years for drug possession and smuggling, would also be included in swap talks.
“All of these that are wrongfully detained need to come home,” Richardson said.
He added that his foundation, The Richardson Center, is involved in talks about the release of three other Americans held by Russia, but that he was a “catalyst” for what would ultimately be a government-to-government agreement.
The Biden administration reportedly floated a potential prisoner swap last month in which Griner and Whelan would be released in exchange for convicted Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout. Officials have publicly confirmed that they offered an exchange but have not explicitly said if it involved Bout.
President Biden on Friday said he’s “hopeful” about Griner’s situation, though White House officials declined to say if there were specific developments that led him to feel that way.
Richardson on Sunday commended Biden for considering the exchange with Bout, though he said “I would have done it quietly.”
“Our objective should be, despite prisoner exchanges that are not popular, to bring American hostages home. Some of these prisoner exchanges are not good. The optics are not good. But we have to do it sometimes,” he said.
Russia said Friday it was “ready to discuss” a prisoner swap with Washington at the presidential level, a day after the drug conviction of US basketball star Brittney Griner.
Despite tensions soaring between Russia and the US since the launch of Moscow’s military intervention in Ukrainethe former Cold War rivals appeared to be edging closer to a new prisoner exchange.
The White House has urged Russia to accept its offer of a deal for the release of Griner and former US Marine Paul Whelan, who was sentenced to 16 years in prison on espionage charges.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday said Moscow was willing to discuss the matter.
“We are ready to discuss this subject, but only within the framework of the (communication) channel established by presidents Putin and Biden,” Lavrov told a press conference on a visit to Cambodia.
Viktor Bout, Russian arms dealer, at center of possible prisoner swap
02:23
“There is a special channel established by the presidents and despite certain public declarations, it is still functional,” he added.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who spoke to Lavrov about the exchange Last Friday, said Washington will be “pursuing” discussions with Russia.
He also said Griner’s conviction put a spotlight on the “Russian government’s use of wrongful detentions to advance its own agenda using individuals as political pawns.”
WNBA player Griner was sentenced to nine years in a Russian penal colony Thursday and ordered to pay a fine of one million rubles ($16,590) for possessing and smuggling narcotics.
The two-time Olympic basketball gold medalist and Women’s NBA champion was detained at a Moscow airport in February after she was found carrying vape cartridges with cannabis oil in her luggage.
The Phoenix Mercury player was coming to Russia to play club basketball with UMMC Ekaterinburg during the US off-season — a common path for American stars seeking additional income.
Griner pleaded guilty to the chargesbut said she did not intend to break the law or use the banned substance in Russia.
“I want the court to understand it was an honest mistake that I made while rushing, under stress, trying to recover from post-Covid and just trying to get back to my team,” Griner said in her final statement before the verdict.
Griner had testified that she had permission from a US doctor to use medicinal cannabis to relieve pain from her many injuries, and had never failed a drug test.
The use of medical marijuana is not allowed in Russia.
Griner’s legal team said they plan to appeal the “unreasonable” verdict.
President Biden called Griner’s conviction “unacceptable” and said Washington would “work tirelessly” to secure her release.
Blinken has said Washington put forward a “substantial proposal” for the exchange of Griner and Whelan.
The highest-profile Russian prisoner in the United States is Victor Bouta 55-year-old arms trafficker dubbed the “Merchant of Death,” who is serving a 25-year sentence.
There is no official confirmation that Washington has offered to exchange him.
Bout’s wife, Alla, on Friday expressed her sympathies to Griner’s family, saying she hoped her husband and the US athlete will be able to return home.
“Sympathy has no citizenship and nationality, it is a universal human emotion,” she told Russian news agency RIA Novosti, expressing hope that Russia and the US would “come to an agreement.”
Moscow and Washington have already conducted one prisoner swap since the start of Moscow’s Ukraine offensive.
In April, Washington exchanged former US Marine Trevor Reed for convicted drug smuggler Konstantin Yaroshenko.
in to handwritten letter from Griner that was delivered to the White House last month, the WNBA player wrote how terrified she is that she may be imprisoned in Russia “forever.”
Griner’s wife Cherelle told “CBS Mornings” that when she read the letter, she could feel the fear that Griner was experiencing.
“She is probably the strongest person that I know, so she doesn’t say words like that lightly. That means she truly is terrified that she may never see us again. You know, I share those same sentiments,” Cherelle Griner said.
Cherelle Griner says President Biden wrote a letter back to Brittney Griner
Vice President Kamala Harris was accused of hypocrisy after she decried Brittney Griner’s conviction by Russia on cannabis smuggling charges — despite Harris prosecuting thousands of similar marijuana possession cases in her earlier career as a prosecutor.
Griner, 31, was sentenced on Thursday to nine years in prison after she admitted to bringing vape cartridges containing cannabis oil into the country. The WNBA star said she had been prescribed the oil to help relieve pain related to her chronic injuries and had accidentally packed them in her luggage.
The verdict was met with universal condemnation from US diplomats and government officials, led by President Biden, who called the sentence “unacceptable” and demanded that Russia release both Griner and a second jailed American, Paul Whelan, “immediately.”
VP Kamala Harris has been labeled a hypocrite for condemning Brittney Griner’s cannabis conviction in Russia, despite overseeing thousands of marijuana possession cases as a prosecutor. APGriner was found guilty of smuggling cannabis into Russia and was sentenced to nine years in prison. ZUMAPRESS.com
“With today’s sentencing, Russia continues its wrongful detention of Brittney Griner. She should be released immediately,” Harris wrote. “@POTUS and I, and our entire Administration, are working every day to reunite Brittney, as well as Paul Whelan, with loved ones who miss each of them dearly.”
But Harris’ many critics were quick to point out that while serving as both San Francisco’s district attorney and California’s attorney general, she oversaw thousands of marijuana-related prosecutions and was an outspoken critic of pot legalization, as the Daily Mail first reported.
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“Brittney Griner got 9 years for drug possession in Russia… which sounds like most of the criminal sentences Kamala Harris got people for the same thing when she was attorney general of California,” author Tim Young tweeted.
Another commenter wrote: “LMAO, didn’t U lock up as—load of people for weed? Then bragged about it, and went on to say you smoked weed in college listening to Tupac and snoop before they cut their first albums?”
A third smoked in the same vein: “You locked up people for possession of marijuana. And you’re only condemning this because the US cannot profit from her incarceration of her in Russia.
With today’s sentencing, Russia continues its wrongful detention of Brittney Griner. She should be released immediately. @POTUS and I, and our entire Administration, are working every day to reunite Brittney, as well as Paul Whelan, with loved ones who miss each of them dearly.
And you’re only condemning this because the US cannot profit from her incarceration in Russia. https://t.co/2lX9lZqVq3
— Karim says #FreePalestine 🇺🇸🇯🇲🌹🏳️🌈 🌻🇵🇸 (@shift_in2_turbo) August 5, 2022
The San Jose Mercury News reported in 2019 that during Harris’ tenure as San Francisco’s top prosecutor between 2004-2010, her office handled more than 1,900 marijuana convictions — although it has been pointed out that most of those arrested for low-level possession were spared prison time, and only a few dozen were incarcerated.
Harris was elected the Golden State’s attorney general in 2011 and had a further 1,970 people locked up for marijuana offenses on her watch, according to an investigation by the Washington Free Beacon, a conservative publication.
Harris also vocally opposed California’s marijuana legalization ballot initiative, which ultimately passed in 2016.
She only threw her support behind legalization around 2018, even endorsing a bill which would have removed cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act, reported Forbes. She also wrote a book in which she argued for the decriminalization of cannabis.
By the time Harris radically changed her stance on marijuana, there was already talk of her running for president.
Harris famously sparred with Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard during a Democratic presidential debate in 2019 after Gabbard brought up her record of throwing people in prison for marijuana possession.
“She put over 1,500 people in jail for marijuana violations and then laughed about it when she was asked if she ever smoked marijuana,” Gabbard said, referring to Harris’ interview with the radio show “The Breakfast Club.”
In that sitdown, the White House contender — and former prosecutor — admitted with a laugh that she had smoked marijuana in college, saying: “I have. And I inhaled—I did inhale. It was a long time ago. But, yes.”
WNBA star Brittney Griner was convicted of cannabis possession and smuggling in Russia on Thursday and was sentenced to nine years in prison.
While it’s not clear exactly where she will be serving out her unusually harsh sentence — which she is appealing — Griner may return to the female penal facility where she has spent the last six months outside of Moscow.
The prison, dubbed Correctional Colony No. 1 or IK-1, is no Stalin-era gulag but seems to bleak at best.
The facility is a former orphanage, rebuilt and converted ten years ago into a pretrial detention center and prison where women live out their sentences, the New York Times reported last month.
Located in the village of Novoye Grishino, the overwhelmingly gray and artificially lit prison has its own sewing factory and Russian Orthodox church inside.
WNBA star Brittney Griner has spent the last six months locked up in Correctional Colony No. 1.AFP via Getty ImagesThe prison includes a pretrial detention center and area for female offenders to serve out their sentences.DmitrovTVThe prison was once home to Israeli-American Naama Issachar, who was detained by Russian police in 2019.AFP via Getty Images
Video footage of the facility shows towering gray walls topped with barbed wire and gives a glimpse inside of the sewing factory where dozens of women appear to be working.
A large, rusting statue of Lenin sits in a snow-filled courtyard.
Journalist Yekaterina Kalugina visited Griner while she was at the facility, and told The Times that each day is repetitive and monotonous for the Phoenix Mercury Center.
Each morning inmates wake up, and eat a basic meal in her cell, Kalugina said. They are then permitted to walk around the courtyard. They then spend the rest of the day either reading books or watching Russian television.
A large statue of Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin sits in the prison courtyardAFP via Getty ImagesCorrectional Colony No. 1 was converted from an orphanage roughly 10 years ago.AFP via Getty Images
Uniquely, the cells have a private washroom but the inmates are only allowed to shower twice a week, she said. They are permitted to order food online and keep food in an available refrigerator.
The prison was also formerly home to Israeli-American Naama Issachar, who was arrested in 2019 and sentenced to over seven years in prison after Russian police said they found marijuana in her luggage while she was connecting flights in Moscow. Vladimir Putin later pardoned her for drug trafficking in 2020.
Brittney Griner was sentenced to nine years in Russian prison on Thursday.POOL/AFP via Getty ImagesGriner was convicted of cannabis possession and drug smuggling.REUTERS
Issachar was detained as a political pawn between Russia and Israel, just as Griner is with the United States now.
Yaffa Issachar, Naama’s mother, told The Times her daughter spent three months at IK-1. She said filling out the paperwork to enter the prison to visit Naama could take up to four hours followed by a tedious inspection of each item of food she had brought.
She was treated relatively well, her mother said, and was allowed to visit from a rabbi once a week. Issachar recalled the statue of Lenin as well as the sound of guard dogs barking.
Issachar’s mother told The Times her daughter sobbed when she heard about Griner and is worried that as a gay woman she could be subjected to much harsher treatment in conservative Russia.
US basketball star Brittney Griner was convicted Thursday in Russia of drug possession and sentenced to nine years in prison following a politically charged trial that came amid soaring tensions between Moscow and Washington over Ukraine and could lead to a high-stakes prisoner exchange between the two worlds powers.
The 31-year-old Griner, a two-time US Olympic champion and an eight-time all-star with the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury listened with a blank expression as an interpreter translated the verdict by Judge Anna Sotnikova. The judge also fined 1 million rubles (about $16,000) fine.
“I never meant to hurt anybody to put in jeopardy the Russian population or violate any Russian laws. I made an honest mistake and I hope that your ruling, that it doesn’t end my life here,” Griner told the court earlier Thursday, apologizing to her family, her teammates, her fans, and the Russian people.
US basketball player Brittney Griner, who was detained at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport and later charged with illegal possession of cannabis, stands inside a defendants’ cage before a court hearing in Khimki outside Moscow, Russia August 4, 2022.
EVGENIA NOVOZHENINA/REUTERS
“I know everybody keeps talking about political pawn and politics, but I hope that that is far from this courtroom… I hope you take into account all the documents, all the character lists that everybody has sent in on my behalf… This is my second home, and all I wanted to do was just win championships and make them proud,” she said.
US President Joe Biden denounced the verdict and sentence as “unacceptable.”
“I call on Russia to release her immediately so she can be with her wife, loved ones, friends, and teammates,” Biden said, adding that he would continue to work to bring home Griner and Paul Whelan, an American imprisoned in Russia on an espionage conviction.
As Griner was taken from the court after the verdict, she told reporters: “I love my family.” Her lawyers said she was very upset, stressed, and could hardly talk.
Earlier in the session, with a conviction all but certain, an emotional Griner made a final appeal to the court for leniency. She said she had no intention to break the law by bringing vape cartridges with cannabis oil when she 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 of (Yekaterinburg) for my mistake that I made and the embarrassment that I brought on them,” Griner said, her voice cracking. “I want to also apologize to my parents, my siblings, the Phoenix Mercury organization back at home, the amazing women of the WNBA, and my amazing spouse back at home.”
Under Russian law, the 31-year-old Griner faces up to 10 years in prison, but judges have considerable latitude on sentencing.
If she does not go free, attention will turn to the possibility of a high-stakes prisoner swap that was proposed last week by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to his Russian counterpart.
Griner said Yekaterinburg, a city east of the Ural Mountains, had become her “second home.”
“I had no idea that the team, the cities, the fans, my teammates would make such a great impression on me over the 6 1/2 years that I spent here,” she said. “I remember vividly coming out of the gym and all the little girls that were in the stands there waiting on me, and that’s what kept making me come back here.”
Prosecutor Nikolai Vlasenko insisted that Griner packed the cannabis oil deliberately, and he asked the court to hand Briner a fine of 1 million rubles (about $16,700) in addition to the prison sentence.
Lawyers for the Phoenix Mercury center and two-time Olympic gold medalist have sought to bolster Griner’s contention that she had no criminal intent and that the canisters ended up in her luggage by mistake. They presented character witnesses from the Yekaterinburg team that she plays for in the WNBA offseason and written testimony from a doctor who said he prescribed her cannabis for pain treatment from injuries sustained in her basketball career.
Her lawyer, Maria Blagovolina, argued that Griner used the cannabis only in Arizona, where medical marijuana is legal.
She emphasized that Griner was packing in haste after a grueling flight and suffering from the consequences of COVID-19. Blagovolina also pointed out that the analysis of cannabis found in Griner’s possession was flawed and violated legal procedures.
Blagovolina asked the court to acquit Griner, noting that she had no past criminal record and hailing her role in “the development of Russian basketball.”
Another defense attorney, Alexander Boykov, emphasized Griner’s role in taking her Yekaterinburg team to win multiple championships, noting that she was loved and admired by her teammates. He told the judge that a conviction would undermine Russia’s efforts to develop national sports and make Moscow’s call to depoliticize sports sound shallow.
Boykov added that even after her arrest, Griner won the sympathy of both her guards and prison inmates, who supported her by shouting, “Brittney, everything will be OK!” when she went on walks at the jail.
Before her trial began in July, the State Department designated her as “wrongfully detained,” moving her case under the supervision of its special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, effectively the government’s chief hostage negotiator.
Then last week, in an extraordinary move, Blinken spoke to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, urging him to accept a deal under which Griner and Whelan would go free.
The Lavrov-Blinken call marked the highest-level known contact between Washington and Moscow since Russia sent troops into Ukraine more than five months ago. The direct outreach over Griner is at odds with US efforts to isolate the Kremlin.
People familiar with the proposal say it envisions trading Griner and Whelan for the notorious arms trader Viktor Bout, who is serving a prison sentence in the United States. It underlines the public pressure that the White House has faced to get Griner released.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday that Russia has made a “bad faith” response to the US government’s offer, a counteroffer that American officials don’t regard as serious. She declined to elaborate.
Russian officials have scoffed at US statements about the case, saying they show a disrespect for Russian law. They remained poker-faced, urging Washington to discuss the issue through “quiet diplomacy without releases of speculative information.”
in to handwritten letter from Griner that was delivered to the White House last month, the WNBA player wrote how terrified she is that she may be imprisoned in Russia “forever.”
Griner’s wife Cherelle told “CBS Mornings” that when she read the letter, she could feel the fear that Griner was experiencing.
“She is probably the strongest person that I know, so she doesn’t say words like that lightly. That means she truly is terrified that she may never see us again. You know, I share those same sentiments,” Cherelle said.
KHIMKI, Russia (AP) — An emotional Brittney Griner apologized in a Russian court Thursday as her drug possession trial drew to a close Thursday, and a prosecutor urged that the American basketball star be convicted and sentenced to 9 1/2 years in prison in a case that reached the highest levels of US-Russia diplomacy.
With a judge set to issue an unusually swift verdict later in the day and a conviction all but certain, Griner made a final appeal to the court. She said she had no intention to break the law by bringing vape cartridges with cannabis oil when she 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 of (Yekaterinburg) for my mistake that I made and the embarrassment that I brought on them,” Griner said, her voice cracking. “I want to also apologize to my parents, my siblings, the Phoenix Mercury organization back at home, the amazing women of the WNBA, and my amazing spouse back at home.”
Under Russian law, the 31-year-old Griner faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted. but judges have considerable latitude on sentencing.
If she does not go free, attention will turn to the high-stakes possibility of a prisoner swap, which was proposed last week by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to his Russian counterpart.
She said she made “an honest mistake,” adding: “hope in your ruling it does not end my life.”
Griner said Yekaterinburg, a city east of the Ural Mountains, had become her “second home.”
“I had no idea that the team, the cities, the fans, my teammates would make such a great impression on me over the six and a half years that I spent here,” she said. “I remember vividly coming out of the gym and all the little girls that were in the stands there waiting on me, and that’s what kept making me come back here.”
Lawyers for the Phoenix Mercury center and two-time Olympic gold medalist have pursued strategies to bolster Griner’s contention that she had no criminal intent and that the canisters ended up in her luggage due to hasty packing. They have presented character witnesses from the Russian team that she plays for in the WNBA offseason and written testimony from a doctor who said he prescribed her cannabis for pain treatment.
Griner lawyer Maria Blagovolina argued that Griner brought the cartridges with her to Russia inadvertently and only used cannabis to treat her pain from injuries sustained in her career. She said she used it only in Arizona, where medical marijuana is legal.
She emphasized that Griner was packing in haste after a grueling flight and suffering from the consequences of COVID-19. Blagovolina also pointed out that the analysis of cannabis found in Griner’s possession was flawed and violated legal procedures.
Blagovolina asked the court to acquit Griner, noting that she had no past criminal record and hailing her role in “the development of Russian basketball.”
Another defense attorney, Alexander Boykov, also emphasized Griner’s role in taking her Yekaterinburg team to win multiple championships, noting that she was loved and admired by her teammates.
He told the judge that a conviction would undermine Russia’s efforts to develop national sports and make Moscow’s call to depoliticize sports sound shallow.
Boykov added that even after her arrest, Griner won the sympathy of both her guards and prison inmates, who supported her by shouting, “Brittney, everything will be OK!” when she went on walks at the jail.
Prosecutor Nikolai Vlasenko insisted that Griner packed the cannabis oil deliberately, and he asked the court to hand Briner a fine of 1 million rubles (about $16,700) in addition to the prison sentence.
If she does not go free, attention will turn to the high-stakes possibility of a prisoner swap.
Before her trial began in July, the State Department designated her as “wrongfully detained,” moving her case under the supervision of its special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, effectively the government’s chief hostage negotiator.
Then last week, in an extraordinary moveBlinken spoke to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, urging him to accept a deal under which Griner and Paul Whelan, an American imprisoned in Russia on an espionage conviction, would go free.
The Lavrov-Blinken call marked the highest-level known contact between Washington and Moscow since Russia sent troops into Ukraine more than five months ago. The direct outreach over Griner is at odds with US efforts to isolate the Kremlin.
People familiar with the proposal say it envisions trading Griner and Whelan for the notorious arms trader Viktor Bout, who is serving a prison sentence in the United States. It underlines the public pressure that the White House has faced to get Griner released.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday that Russia has made a “bad faith” response to the US government’s offer, a counteroffer that American officials don’t regard as serious. She declined to elaborate.
Russian officials have scoffed at US statements about the case, saying they show a disrespect for Russian law. They remained poker-faced, urging Washington to discuss the issue through “quiet diplomacy without releases of speculative information.”
KHIMKI, Russia (AP) — Prosecutors asked a Russian court Thursday to convict American basketball star Brittney Griner and sentence her to 9 1/2 years in prison at closing arguments in her drug possession trial.
The trial neared its end nearly six months after Griner’s arrest at a Moscow airport in a case that has reached the highest levels of US-Russia diplomacy, with Washington proposing a prisoner exchange. Under Russian law, the 31-year-old Griner faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
Although a conviction is all but certain, given that Russian courts rarely acquit defendants and Griner have admitted to having vape cartridges with cannabis oil in her luggage, judges have considerable latitude on sentencing.
Lawyers for the Phoenix Mercury center and two-time Olympic gold medalist have pursued strategies to bolster Griner’s contention that she had no criminal intent and that the canisters ended up in her luggage due to hasty packing. They have presented character witnesses from the Russian team that she plays for in the WNBA offseason and written testimony from a doctor who said he prescribed her cannabis for pain treatment.
Griner lawyer Maria Blagovolina argued that Griner brought the cartridges with her to Russia inadvertently and only used cannabis to treat her pain from injuries sustained in her career. She said she used it only in Arizona, where medical marijuana is legal.
She emphasized that Griner was packing in haste after a grueling flight and suffering from the consequences of COVID-19. Blagovolina also pointed out that the analysis of cannabis found in Griner’s possession was flawed and violated legal procedures.
Blagovolina asked the court to acquit Griner, noting that she had no past criminal record and hailing her role in “the development of Russian basketball.”
Another defense attorney, Alexander Boykov, also emphasized Griner’s role in taking her Yekaterinburg team to win multiple championships, noting that she was loved and admired by her teammates.
He told the judge that a conviction would undermine Russia’s efforts to develop national sports and make Moscow’s call to depoliticize sports sound shallow.
Boykov added that even after her arrest, Griner won the sympathy of both her guards and prison inmates, who supported her by shouting, “Brittney, everything will be OK!” when she went on walks at the jail.
Prosecutor Nikolai Vlasenko insisted that Griner packed the cannabis oil deliberately, and he asked the court to hand Briner a fine of 1 million rubles (about $16,700) in addition to the prison sentence.
It’s not clear when the verdict will be announced. If she does not go free, attention will turn to the high-stakes possibility of a prisoner swap.
Before her trial began in July, the State Department designated her as “wrongfully detained,” moving her case under the supervision of its special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, effectively the government’s chief hostage negotiator.
Then last week, in an extraordinary moveUS Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, urging him to accept a deal under which Griner and Paul Whelan, an American imprisoned in Russia on an espionage conviction, would go free.
The Lavrov-Blinken call marked the highest-level known contact between Washington and Moscow since Russia sent troops into Ukraine more than five months ago. The direct outreach over Griner is at odds with US efforts to isolate the Kremlin.
People familiar with the proposal say it envisions trading Griner and Whelan for the notorious arms trader Viktor Bout, who is serving a prison sentence in the United States. It underlines the public pressure that the White House has faced to get Griner released.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday that Russia has made a “bad faith” response to the US government’s offer, a counteroffer that American officials don’t regard as serious. She declined to elaborate.
Russian officials have scoffed at US statements about the case, saying they show a disrespect for Russian law. They remained poker-faced, urging Washington to discuss the issue through “quiet diplomacy without releases of speculative information.”
Examination of the substance in vape cartridges WNBA star Brittney Griner’s carried in February at a Moscow airport did not comply with Russian law, a defense expert testified Tuesday as her drug-smuggling trial in Russia continues amid US efforts to negotiate a prisoner swap for her release .
Among the violations is that results of the examination do not contain the amount of THC in the substance investigators tested, Griner’s lawyer, Maria Blagovolina, said after the hearing.
“The examination does not comply with the law in terms of the completeness of the study and does not comply with the norms of the Code of Criminal Procedure,” forensic chemist Dmitry Gladyshev testified for the defense during the roughly two-hour session.
The defense also interrogated prosecution expert Alexander Korablyov, who examined Griner’s cartridges taken from her luggage.
Griner’s appearance in the Khimki city courthouse marked her seventh hearing as Russian prosecutors accuse her of trying to smuggle less than 1 gram of cannabis oil in her luggage. She has pleaded guilty to drug charges – a decision her lawyers hope will result in a less severe sentence – even as the US State Department maintains she is wrongfully detained, and she faces up to 10 years in prison.
Supporters of the two-time Olympic gold medalist and Phoenix Mercury center who plays in Russia during the WNBA offseason have called for her release over fears she is being used as a political pawn amid Russia’s war on Ukraine. US officials face immense pressure from Griner’s family, lawmakers and the professional basketball community to bring her home, and Griner wrote to President Joe Biden pleading with him to do everything in his power to facilitate her release from her.
The 31-year-old sat Tuesday inside the defendant’s cage in the courtroom. The charge d’affaires of the US embassy in Moscow, Elizabeth Rood, attended Tuesday’s hearing and afterward said the US would “continue to support Miss Griner through every step of this process and as long as it takes to bring her home to the United States safely.”
Griner’s next hearing is set for Thursday.
At trial, Griner has testified that she has a doctor’s prescription for medical cannabis and had no intention of bringing the drug into Russia. Following her arrest of her in February, she was tested for drugs and was clean, her lawyers previously said.
Amid public pressure and after months of internal debate, the Biden administration proposed a prisoner swap with Russia, offering to release a convicted Russian arms trafficker in exchange for Griner and another American detainee, Paul Whelan, people briefed on the matter have told CNN.
Russian officials countered the US offer, multiple sources familiar with the discussions have said, requesting in addition to arms dealer Viktor Bout the US also include a convicted murderer who was formerly a colonel with the Russian spy agency, Vadim Krasikov.
US officials did not accept the request as a legitimate counteroffer, the sources told CNN, in part because the proposal was sent through an informal backchannel. Krasikov’s release would also be complicated because he is in German custody.
“It’s a bad faith attempt to avoid a very serious offer and proposal that the United States has put forward and we urge Russia to take that offer seriously,” Defense Department spokesperson John Kirby told CNN, later adding, “We very much want to see Brittney and Paul come home to their families where they belong.”
Meantime, Griner’s trial carries on, with her legal team expected to continue questioning more witnesses before moving to closing arguments, during which the lawyers will elaborate on why they believe Griner’s detention was handled improperly. Closing arguments are expected in coming weeks.
Griner’s attorneys have already laid out some arguments claiming the basketball player’s detention was not handled correctly after she was arrested February 17 by personnel at the Sheremetyevo International Airport.
Her detention, search and arrest were “improper,” Alexander Boykov, one of her lawyers, said last week, noting more details would be revealed during closing arguments.
After she was stopped in the airport, Griner was made to sign documents that she did not fully understand, she testified. At first, she said, she was using Google translate on her phone from her but was later moved to another room where her phone from her was taken and she was made to sign more documents.
No lawyer was present, she testified, and her rights were not explained to her. Those rights would include access to an attorney once she was detained and the right to know what she was suspected of. Under Russian law, she should have been informed of her rights within three hours of her arrest.
In her testimony, Griner “explained to the court that she knows and respects Russian laws and never intended to break them,” Blagovolina – a partner at Rybalkin, Gortsunyan, Dyakin & Partners – said after last week’s hearing.
The detained player testified she was aware of Russian laws and had no intention of bringing the cannabis oil into the country, noting she was in a rush and “stress packing.”
Griner confirmed she has a doctor’s prescription for medical cannabis, Blagovolina said, which she uses to treat knee pain and joint inflammation.
“We continue to insist that, by indiscretion, in a hurry, she packed her suitcase and did not pay attention to the fact that substances allowed for use in the United States ended up in this suitcase and arrived in the Russian Federation,” Boykov, of Moscow Legal Center, has said.
Griner’s family, supporters and WNBA teammates continue to express messages of solidarity and hope as they wait for the conclusion of the trial and look forward to the potential of her release.
Before trial proceedings last week, the WNBA players union tweeted, “Dear BG … It’s early in Moscow. Our day is ending and yours is just beginning. Not a day, not an hour goes by that you’re not on our minds & in our hearts.”
This story has been updated with additional developments Tuesday.
correction: A prior version of this story missed Brittney Griner’s first name.
Former President Donald Trump suggested that the proposed prisoner swap between Russia and the United States that would return jailed WNBA star Brittney Griner in exchange for a Russian arms dealer “doesn’t seem like a very good trade.”
“She knew you don’t go in there loaded up with drugs, and she admitted it,” Trump told the Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show. “I assume she admitted it without too much force because it is what it is, and it certainly doesn’t seem like a very good trade, does it? He’s absolutely one of the worst in the world, and he’s gonna be given his freedom from him because a potentially spoiled person goes into Russia loaded up with drugs.
Trump was referring to reports that the United States is attempting to secure the release of Griner, and former US Marine Paul Whelan, in exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout who is known as the “Merchant of Death” due to his weapons sales that fueled deadly conflicts around the world.
“She went in there loaded up with drugs into a hostile territory where they’re very vigilant about drugs,” Trump added. “They don’t like drugs. And she got caught. And now we’re supposed to get her out of her — and she makes, you know, a lot of money, I guess. We’re supposed to get her out for an absolute killer and one of the biggest arms dealers in the world. She killed many Americans. She killed many people.”
Former President Donald Trump said the proposed trade involving Brittney Griner for Russia arms dealer Viktor Bout wouldn’t be a “good fit.”Getty Images
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said earlier this week that while the Kremlin and US officials have engaged in talks, “there has been no concrete result yet.”
“We proceed from the assumption that the interests of both parties should be taken into account during the negotiations,” she said.
Griner, a WNBA champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist was arrested in Russia in February after customs officers found “vapes” containing hashish oil in her luggage at an airport near Moscow.
Griner, who faces a potential 10-year prison sentence, pleaded guilty earlier this month in a move her legal team says was made to “take full responsibility for her actions.”
Brittney Griner is escorted before a court hearing in Khimki outside Moscow, Russia on July 27, 2022. REUTERS
Former Trump Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also suggested earlier this week that the proposed prisoner swap is not a good idea.
“He’s a bad guy. He is a guy who wanted to kill Americans. It presents a real risk to the United States. There’s a real reason the Russians want to get him home. To offer a trade like this is a dangerous precedent,” Pompeo told “America’s Newsroom.”
“This is not a good trade, not the right path forward, and it’ll likely lead to more,” Pompeo added.
Russian officials have long pushed for the release of Bout, who is currently serving a 25-year sentence in US prison after being convicted in 2011 of conspiracy to kill Americans, conspiracy to deliver anti-aircraft missiles, and aiding a terrorist organization.
Viktor Bout was convicted in 2011 of conspiracy to kill Americans, but Russian officials have pushed for his release.ZUMAPRESS.com
He was nabbed in 2008 in a sting operation at a luxury hotel in Bangkok, Thailand, where he met with Drug Enforcement Administration informants who were posing as officials with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, which has been classified by US officials as a narco- terrorist group.
Prosecutors said that Bout was prepared to provide the groupwith $20 million worth of “a breathtaking arsenal of weapons — including hundreds of surface-to-air missiles, machine guns and sniper rifles — 10 million rounds of ammunition and five tons of plastic explosives.”
