Console gamers can get access to closed beta access codes for EA Sports’ FIFA 23
EA Sports is set to release the FIFA 23Closed Beta codes, which will give players early access to the game ahead of its release on September 30.
It is common practice for the game developer to hand out a code to some players which allow them to get their hands on the game before it is officially released. Simultaneously, it provides EA with the opportunity to fix any bugs that might have remained.
How to get the FIFA 23 Closed Beta access code
You must sign up for EA email notifications to get a chance to grab the FIFA 23 Closed Beta codes. All so:
Go to your EA Account email preferences.
Confirm your email under Primary Email is correct.
Check the box under Manage your email preferences.
Click Update.
Closed Beta access is not available to everyone, but if you are one of the lucky ones you will get an email with the code. Sharing codes is not possible.
When does FIFA 23 Closed Beta access start & end?
FIFA 23 Closed Beta will be released on August 11, 2022 at 6pm BST (1pm ET / 10am PT).
Closed Beta access ends on September 1, 2022.
Which platforms is FIFA 23 Closed Beta available on?
gamers with Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 are eligible to play the game with the codes. The Beta is not available to players on Nintendo Switch, Stadia, or PC.
You also need to have an active subscription to Xbox Live Gold or PlayStation Plus to play.
Which countries are eligible for FIFA 23 Closed Beta?
The Closed Beta is only available to players in the United States and the United Kingdom. There may be some exceptions to this, based on certain feedback that EA Sports is looking to get.
What game modes are available to play in FIFA 23 Closed Beta?
FIFA 23 Beta will give you compulsory access to the following game modes.
kick off
Online Seasons
Online Friendslies
Practice Arena
Some players might also get access to FUT, Career Mode, Volta Football or Pro Clubs.
Does FIFA 23 Closed Beta progress carry over?
No, your progress in the Beta edition won’t carry over to the full game.
How to report a bug or send feedback to EA Sports?
EA Sports is eager to gather as much feedback as possible before the official launch of the game. So if you find a bug or have feedback you can share them in the FIFA 23 Closed Beta forums on Answers HQ.
Only people with access to the Closed Beta can use the forums. You’ll also need to sign in to your EA Account.
It’s not a universal maxim, but in many cases, there’s no surer sign a game is alive and well than when waves of players start calling it a “dead game.” The most recent example is apex legendswhich just set an all-time player count record amid a coordinated—I use that word generously—social media campaign urging players to fall off the game for a month.
apex legendsa free-to-play first-person shooter some people still call Why Aren’t You Titanfall 3?, launched three years ago amid the industry’s battle royale boom. Though it initially seemed experimental, a fun if ephemeral multiplayer pitstop between developer Respawn’s blockbusters (like titan fall and Jedi: Fallen Order), Apex quickly adopted a seasonal model. It’s been riding the live service train ever since and is now on its 14th season. This brings us to #NoApexAugust, a community effort to highlight various issues fans have with the game.
#NoApexAugust has mostly organized around a hashtag on Twitter, though the genesis can be traced back to to Reddit post from last month. Initially, one player suggested a single-day strike against apex legends. The post blew up. Complaints about apex legends poured in (the initial post has more than 1,000 responses), and it eventually morphed into the idea that the community would take a whole month off from the game.
The idea of #NoApexAugust was to spur Respawn and publisher EA into action, addressing what players see as issues with the game: the high-ping servers…or the lack of cross-progression…or the overpriced cosmetics…or the lack or interesting cosmetics …or the slew of specific items some say are too powerful…or, look, players have a bunch of nonsense issues, many of which seem minor in isolation but coalesce into a larger “please fix game” rallying cry.
Right out of the gate, #NoApexAugust sputtered. Some people pointed out that the player base actually increased (if only marginally) over the first two days of the month, immediately after the campaign kicked off. And just yesterday—again, while #NoApexAugust was supposedly in full swing—apex legends set its all-time record number of players on Steam: 510,286 players, according to stat-tracking database steamcharts. (The previous record of 411,183 was set in May. These figures don’t account for players on consoles, however.)
Some dead game.
Clearly, #NoApexAugust has failed spectacularly at its intended goal of getting players to abstain from playing apex legends. Due to the obvious irony, you are allowed at least one (1) chuckle. Still, that a social campaign—messy execution aside—was merited here in the first place calls attention to very real issues players have with the game. Those shouldn’t be ignored, even if players are coming out in record numbers.
Representatives for EA, which publishes apex legendsdid not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.
Volodymyr Zhukovskyy, of West Springfield, Mass., reacts to the not-guilty verdict at Coos County Superior Court in Lancaster, NH, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2022. The commercial truck driver was charged with negligent homicide in the deaths of seven motorcycles club members in a 2019 crash in Randolph, NH (David Lane/The Union Leader via AP, Pool)
1 of 9
Volodymyr Zhukovskyy, of West Springfield, Mass., reacts to the not-guilty verdict at Coos County Superior Court in Lancaster, NH, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2022. The commercial truck driver was charged with negligent homicide in the deaths of seven motorcycles club members in a 2019 crash in Randolph, NH (David Lane/The Union Leader via AP, Pool)
CONCORD, NH (AP) — A jury on Tuesday acquired a commercial truck driver of causing the deaths of seven motorcyclists in a horrific head-on collision in northern New Hampshire that exposed fatal flaws in the processing of license revocations across states.
Volodymyr Zhukovskyy, 26, of West Springfield, Massachusetts, was found innocent on seven counts of manslaughter, seven counts of negligent homicide and one count of reckless conduct in connection with the June 21, 2019, crash in Randolph. Jailed since the crash, he appeared to wipe away tears as the verdict was read and briefly raised his index finger skyward before leaving the courtroom.
Jurors deliberated for less than three hours after a two-week trial during which prosecutors argued that Zhukovskyy — who had taken heroin, fentanyl and cocaine earlier on the day of the crash — repeatedly swerved back and forth before the collision and told police he caused it. But a judge dismissed eight charges related to whether he was impaired, and his attorneys blamed the lead biker, Albert “Woody” Mazza Jr., saying he was drunk and not looking where he was going when he lost control of his motorcycle and slid in front of Zhukovskyy’s truck.
“Our hearts go out to the victims and their families. Our trial team did an excellent job and we firmly believe that the State provided its case beyond a reasonable doubt,” New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella said in a statement.
Zhukovskyy’s family, some of whom attended the trial, said in a statement they were grateful to God, the court and the defense attorneys for an “honest and fair trial.”
“Our family expresses its deepest condolences to the family and friends affected by this tragedy,” the family said, describing him as a “very honest and kind man. He would never have done anything to hurt anyone.”
Zhukovskyy, who was born in Ukraine, remained jailed as of late Tuesday afternoon. It is unclear when he might be released. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued an immigration detainer on him after the crash and that he was executed following the verdict, said Ben Champagne, the superintendent at the Coos County Department of Corrections.
ICE said in a statement that Zhukovskyy has been served a notice to appear before an immigration judge and will remain in ICE custody pending the outcome of that appearance. It did not say where he is being held.
All seven motorcyclists killed were members of the Jarheads Motorcycle Club. After the verdict, a member of the Marine group reached through Facebook declined to comment. Mazza’s father, also named Albert, said he was stunned.
“Killing seven people and he gets off. That is unbelievable,” said Mazza. He described his son of him as a “good man” who devoted much of his time to charity, and said it was wrong to pin blame on him.
“It doesn’t make much sense,” he said. “There are seven people dead. There are seven families affected. It’s strange that he didn’t get something.”
The motorcyclists who died were from New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Rhode Island and ranged in age from 42 to 62. They were part of a larger group that had just left a motel along US Route 2 in Randolph.
Killed were Mazza, of Lee, New Hampshire; Edward and Jo-Ann Corr, a couple from Lakeville, Massachusetts; Michael Ferazzi, of Contocook, New Hampshire; Desma Oakes, of Concord, New Hampshire; Daniel Pereira, of Riverside, Rhode Island; and Aaron Perry, of Farmington, New Hampshire.
In closing statements Tuesday morning, the two sides raised questions about who was more “all over the place”: the trucker accused of swerving back and forth across the road or the eyewitnesses accused of contradicting each other.
“Those witnesses were all over the place about what they recalled and what they claimed to have seen,” said defense attorney Jay Duguay.
Duguay also accused prosecutors of ignoring that their own accident reconstruction unit contradicted their theory that Zhukovskyy crossed into the oncoming lane. An expert hired by the defense, meanwhile, testified that the crash happened on the center line of the road and would have occurred even if the truck was in the middle of its lane because Mazza’s motorcycle was heading in that direction.
“From the beginning of this investigation, the state had made up their mind about what had happened, evidence was damned,” said Duguay, who also highlighted inconsistencies between witness accounts or when witnesses contradicted themselves.
In particular, Duguay suggested that the bikers “shaded” their accounts to protect Mazza and the club. Prosecutor Scott Chase acknowledged some inconsistencies, but asked jurors to remember the circumstances.
“People were covering the dead, trying to save the barely living, comforting the dying. This wasn’t story time,” he said. “They were up here talking about some of the most unimaginable chaos, trauma, death and carnage that we can even imagine three years later. They were talking about hell broke open.”
Witnesses were consistent, he argued, in describing the truck as weaving back and forth before the crash. That behavior continued “until he killed people,” Chase said.
“That’s what stopped him. It’s not that he made some responsible decision to start paying attention or do the right thing,” he said. “The only thing that stopped him was an embankment after he tore through a group of motorcycles.”
Chase called the attempt to blame Mazza a “fanciful story” and “frivolous distraction,” while reminding jurors that Zhukovskyy, who didn’t testify at trial, told investigators “Obviously, I caused the crash.”
“He was crystal clear from the very beginning that he caused this crash,” Chase said. “That is what he said, because that is what happened.”
Zhukovskyy’s commercial driving license should have been revoked in Massachusetts at the time of the crash because of a drunken driving arrest in Connecticut about two months earlier.
Connecticut officials alerted the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles, but Zhukovskyy’s license wasn’t suspended due to a backlog of out-of-state notifications about driving offenses. In a review, federal investigators found similar backlog problems in Rhode Island, New Hampshire and at least six other jurisdictions.
___
Associated Press Writers Michael Casey and Kathy McCormack contributed to this report.
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — A federal judge in California ruled Tuesday that three golfers who joined Saudi-backed LIV Golf will not be able to compete in the PGA Tour’s postseason.
US District Judge Beth Labson Freeman made her decision in San Jose after attorneys for the sides each spoke for about an hour. Freeman said she didn’t consider the golfers faced irreparable harm because of the big money they were guaranteed by joining LIV, a key issue in the case.
“There simply is no irreparable harm in this case,” PGA Tour attorney Elliot Peters said.
The three suspended golfers were seeking a temporary restraining order, which Freeman denied. Talor Gooch, Matt Jones and Hudson Swafford claimed they should be able to play where they want to, each saying in letters last month to the PGA Tour, “I am a free agent and independent contractor.” They are among 10 players who filed an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour last week — including Phil Mickelson.
Robert Walters, an antitrust litigator representing the golfers, noted this would be their opportunity on a big playoff stage, “effectively the Super Bowl of golf” because of its “significant income opportunities.” Freeman responded that the LIV Tour earnings potential was also great and asked whether players might have been able to wait until the conclusion of the PGA Tour season to depart for the new tour.
Walters argued there were only 48 spots and they would have filled up according to LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman, to which Freeman said she agreed with that stance but that the golfers stood to gain far more financially joining LIV than the money they might have earned on the PGA Tour.
“This is an extraordinarily attractive financial opportunity but it’s much more than that,” Walters said, saying the harm done is that “players lose intangible benefits” such as qualifications for the major tournaments as well as other marquee invitationals.
“This is the holy grail because everybody wants to compete in and prevail in major championships, but it’s not just the majors,” Walters said. I have noted that the PGA Tour inferred these golfers would put a “taint” or “stench” on the tour’s image by playing, perhaps even wearing LIV Tour gear in PGA Tour tournaments.
“We’re disappointed that Talor Gooch, Hudson Swafford and Matt Jones won’t be allowed to play golf. No one gains by banning golfers from playing,” LIV Golf said in a statement.
The first of three FedEx Cup playoff events begin Thursday. Two tournaments offer $15 million prize funds, and the player who wins the FedEx Cup at East Lake in Atlanta gets $18 million — thus the urgency for Freeman to rule. This case could go to trial next year, with the possibility of an injunction hearing in late September or early October, according to Peters.
Peters said lifting the suspensions of the golfers and allowing them to play would “change the status quo” for the PGA Tour and “give them a fabulous platform” to promote the LIV tour while competing in a PGA event.
“I think it’s a huge problem,” he said. “… The Commissioner needs the ability to protect the Tour. This is a very dire situation for the Tour.”
Gooch (No. 20), Jones (No. 65) and Swafford (No. 67) are among nine players who have joined LIV Golf and finished the regular season among the top 125 in the FedEx Cup standings. The other six who joined LIV Golf are not asking to play in the tour’s postseason.
PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan issued a memo to members that included: “With today’s news, our players, fans and partners can now focus on what really matters over the next three weeks: the best players in the world competing in the FedEx Cup Playoffs, capping off an incredibly compelling season with the crowning of the FedEx Cup champion at the Tour Championship.”
___
AP Golf Writer Doug Ferguson contributed to this report.
___
More AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
On day 40 of the 2022 LCK Summer split, T1 defeated Nongshim RedForce 2-1 and secured a spot in round 2 of the playoffs. Despite NS showing fight in game 2, there was no upset in the series.
After the match, Choi “Zeus” Woo-je joined Inven to talk about his disappointment in his performance that day.
Zeus was brutally honest on his self-feedback: “I played very poorly. I’m incredibly mad at myself. The Camille pick in game 1 was not only bad, but also played poorly on her. By taking Press the Attack on Renekton in game 2, I tried to pressure the enemy in lane very hard, but I couldn’t do that at all. I even died helplessly to a gank. In game 3, everything aligned for me to carry, but I couldn’t do that as well.
I actually practiced a lot of Renekton recently. I should’ve played better when he hit his power spike, but I didn’t. I couldn’t play as well as I could have. My opponents also played well, but there were things that were definitely disappointing on our end.”
On Renekton’s item build, Zeus commented,
“There’s a player on the Challenger solo queue ladder that takes Press the Attack and builds Blade of the Ruined King [BorK] into Prowler’s Claw. If that Renekton gets fed, then his damage output is insane. He can just delete the enemy bot laner, so I took reference from how he plays. I thought I could build the same way in game 2, but looking back, it may not have been so good. To be honest, the item build wasn’t the issue; the plays were. Ever since last year, I always seem to perform poorly on Renekton, so it’s a bit of a sore thumb in my career.”
However, there were some good things to take from the series for Zeus, as he added Renekton and Zac in the champions played during the Summer split. He tied with Kim “Canna” Chang-dong with 13 champions in first place.
“The fact that I had a chance to play the champions that I couldn’t on stage is a good experience in itself. There are so many champions that can be played in the top lane. The more champions I play, the more options I’ll have in the future, so I’m proactively trying to play different options in the top lane.
Zac is a very good champion when there are these prolonged, ‘wet noodle’ fights. Not only did my opponent first pick Ornn, Zac also seemed like the best option in that scenario. I practiced him quite a bit in solo queue recently, and he was really good. So I decided to try him tonight.”
On his performance on Zac in game 3, he also added,
“When there was that lane swap, I died trying to interrupt Kalista’s recall. That was when Ornn got ahead because he farmed a lot of waves. I thought that the damage was irreparable, so I decided to rotate bot lane to get our bot duo ahead. However, because of that, I fell behind in levels; I had to level E to get good engage angles, but due to such, I couldn’t find good jump angles. So I just jumped in whenever I saw potential angles.”
T1 has two matches remaining in the regular split, against Liiv SANDBOX and DWG KIA. On the matchups, I have commented,
“I think it’s more important for us to regain our form, rather than to focus on the opponents’ game plan. I recently received a lot of POG votes, so I got greedy, which led to my misplays. I’m reflecting on it, and I’ll make sure to put my team’s victory over my personal performance.”
Trevor Reed, an American citizen recently freed from a Russian prison, told CNN that WNBA star Brittney Griner will experience “serious threats” to her health if she is sent to a labor camp.
driving the news: “Anyone who is in a forced labor camp in Russia is obviously, you know, facing serious threats to their health because of malnutrition,” he told CNN in an interview. “There’s little to no medical attention whatsoever.”
Reed said the disease tuberculosis “runs rampant in Russian prisons” and there are “diseases that they have there in Russia which are largely extinct in the United States now.”
Flash back: Reed, a Marine veteran who was freed through a prisoner exchange earlier this year, was held in a Russian prison for 985 days after being accused of assaulting a Russian law enforcement official, USA Today reports.
Reed was sentenced to nine years in a labor camp and developed health issues during his time there, including multiple cases of COVID-19. He previously described conditions at labor camps as “medieval,” per USA Today.
The big pictures: Griner was found guilty on drug charges by a Russian court last week and sentenced to nine years in prison, Axios’ Ivana Saric reports.
The sentence comes almost six months after she was arrested at a Russian airport when authorities said they found a vape cartridge with hash oil in her luggage.
What’s next: Griner may appeal the decision, which means she’ll stay at a detention facility until it is completed, Reed told CNN. Otherwise, she will likely be sent to a labor camp.
But Russia may leave her in Moscow if a prisoner exchange is on the table, he added.
Reed said Griner’s case “sentence is clearly political. There’s no denying that.”
Says SOEs will not be listed on CSE where a few can benefit
Calls for changes in the CSE and says if not a new institution will be set up
President Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday raised concerns about the manner in which the country’s capital market, the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE), operates, and asserted the need for the entire system to change.
He said that shares of State-Owned-Enterprises (SOE) will not be listed on the Colombo bourse as a part of restructuring efforts as it is controlled by a few investors.
Highlighting the market manipulation that takes place at the CSE, Wickremesing he stressed he would not list the SOEs on the CSE so that a few investors can benefit from such a move.
“The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) is not recognized by the London Stock Exchange. There are many questions about the stock exchange that a few people control it. And a few people rig it.
“Now can I put an SOE shares on to that?” said Wickremesinghe while questioning the credibility of the stock market operations in Sri Lanka.
The President called for changes to take place at the CSE, failing which he said a new institution will be set up. “I don’t want any arguments on that. If we are to use the present stock exchange, we all should be satisfied that it is neutral and will benefit all,” asserted Wickremesinghe.
Former Adelaide Crows footballer Bryce Gibbs has admitted a controversial pre-season training camp fractured the playing group and says he regrets not speaking up about it.
Key points:
Bryce Gibbs joined the Adelaide Crows in 2017 shortly before the preseason training camp
He says he regrets not speaking up and supporting his teammates
Eddie Betts and Josh Jenkins this week shared their experience of the camp
Gibbs is the latest player to speak publicly about the camp, echoing concerns about the Gold Coast trip raised by former teammates Eddie Betts and Josh Jenkins.
Betts wrote in his book, released this week, how personal details he confidentially shared with a counselor were used to verbally abuse him in front of teammates, in an experience he found “traumatizing.”
In another example, Betts details how First Nations rituals were misappropriated, which he found “extremely disrespectful”.
Gibbs said incidents shared by Betts and Jenkins about the camp should not have happened.
“When I reflect, this is where I feel really disappointed in myself, this is when I started to take a back seat, watching guys stand up and say ‘this is not on, we need to address this, we need to tell people what happened’, they seemed to get shut down pretty quickly,” Gibbs told radio station SEN SA.
Gibbs was traded from Carlton at the end of 2017 and joined Adelaide weeks before the players went on the camp, where he was included in the more intensive “group one” version of the camp alongside nine other players and two coaches.
The retired AFL player said he was disappointed he did not support teammates who experienced a more difficult time during the camp than he did.
Eddie Betts’ biography, The Boy from Boomerang Crescent, includes claims about his traumatic experience during the training camp.(ABC News: Ben Pettit)
“Reflecting on those ongoing conversations when we were trying to flush it out, I do regret not speaking up when I probably should’ve been a more experienced and senior player of that group,” he said.
“It did fracture the playing group, it fractured relationships in the football department, players lost trust with members in that football department.”
In a statement made in 2021, the Crows said a SafeWork SA investigation “found neither the club nor any other person or organisation, breached any work-health-and-safety laws during or in relation to the camp.”
“We tried to move on where that was obviously the wrong thing to do and that’s probably why we’re speaking about it four years on,” Gibbs said.
“If it was handled correctly and people had taken responsibility, put their hand up and knocked it on the head a lot earlier when it happened, it still would’ve been hard as people still went through what they went through – and people will still carry some emotional scars from it — but at least it would’ve been dealt with in the proper manner then and there.”
‘It shouldn’t have happened’
Gibbs said he took a call from a counselor before the camp to discuss his childhood and past experiences, which he thought was “a bit of a red flag.” He said he was “pretty calculated” in what he disclosed.
He said by not divulging too much to the counsellor, his experience of the camp was different from what Betts and Jenkins spoke about this week.
“Reflecting on it all, it just shouldn’t have happened. It was easier for me to move on as I didn’t have that level of experience and trauma put to me, I found it easier to suppress it and squash it and just try and move on personally which I was able to do, which made it easier for me,” Gibbs said.
“That’s my experience of the camp, obviously very different to a lot of people.”
Eddie Betts and Josh Jenkins (right) have both spoken publicly about the 2018 pre-season training camp.(AAP: Tracey Nearmy)
Jenkins recalled an exercise involving players being hoisted up in harnesses while having abuse hurled at them by facilitators and teammates, including “some of the barbs” being thrown at Betts.
Gibbs said he was told not to reveal details of the camp to players in the other groups of the camp.
“Getting spoken to and getting educated on what to say to family, friends and the other guys in the other groups, we were told not to go into detail about what happened and for whatever reason most of us stuck to that at the time,” he said.
‘Strange rules’ during camp
Gibbs said he experienced “unusual things” and “plenty of red flags” during the infamous training trip but convinced himself to keep an open mind and that the camp would help build stronger relationships with his teammates.
The 268-game veteran shared that on the trip to the campsite, Crows players were blindfolded and were not allowed to talk on the bus, which had blacked-out windows.
They played heavy metal music on the bus and talked about the 2017 Grand Final, in which Adelaide were heavily defeated by Richmond, and Gibbs’ departure from Carlton.
Gibbs said “strange rules” were enforced during the camp, including players being required to walk in a straight line and not being allowed to use their mobile phones or shower.
Bryce Gibbs plays for South Adelaide in SANFL since retiring from AFL in 2020.(Supplied: Nick Hook via South Adelaide FC)
He said some of the rules imposed were “hard to justify” and players were doubting the benefits of the training.
“I felt like we were in a bit of a state of mind, this whole experience was happening around us and a couple of guys spoke up about their concerns, it was sort of negotiated that we would continue on with what we were doing,” Gibbs said.
“I think Eddie used “brainwashed”, as he described it, but in the state of mind and in the moment we just continued doing what they’d set out to do.
“It probably wasn’t until later on when reflecting on it that it was probably an opportunity to speak up a bit more.”
The AFL and the Adelaide Football Club have both apologized to Betts for the trauma caused by the camp.
Prominent Adelaide lawyer Greg Griffin said he had spoken to at least seven players who were on the 2018 Crows’ list about a potential class action.
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.”
