What to Know About WNBA Star Brittney Griner's Detention in Russia

WAS IT CBD OIL? SHE IS A LESBIAN IN AN ANTI GAY COUNTRY

Anisha Kohli
Fri, July 1, 2022

2021 WNBA Semifinals - Las Vegas Aces v Phoenix Mercury

Brittney Griner #42 of the Phoenix Mercury looks on during the game against the Las Vegas Aces during Game Three of the 2021 WNBA Semifinals at Desert Financial Arena in Tempe, Arizona on October 3, 2021. Credit - Michael Gonzales—NBAE/ Getty Images)

The criminal trial of 31-year-old WNBA champion and Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner, who has been detained for more than four months, began in Russia on July 1. She faces up to 10 years in prison for the alleged transportation and smuggling of cannabis products. Experts say that she is unlikely to receive a fair trial, and that Russian authorities are using her as a diplomatic bargaining chip amid the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Here’s what you need to know.

Griner was arrested and detained in February

On Feb. 17, Griner, who plays for the Phoenix Mercury, was taken into custody at Sheremetyevo International Airport near Moscow after her arrival to play in the off-season with UMMC Ekaterinburg, a Russian women’s basketball team where Griner has been a star for the past seven years. Airport authorities allegedly found four vape cartridges containing hash oil, a concentrated form of cannabis that is illegal in Russia, in Griner’s luggage. Russian Federal Customs Service said an airport security dog prompted customs officials to search her possessions. Griner was charged with violating Article 229.1 of the Criminal Code of Russia, a law criminalizing illegal drug trafficking and smuggling.

Griner’s detention occurred one week before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and it wasn’t until March 5 that news outlets began reporting about the detention of an unnamed American basketball player.

Footage from the airport released by Russian customs officials shortly after, which shows officials conducting a customs search, revealed that Griner was the detained player, a source in law enforcement told TASS, the Russian news agency, later that day.

On March 17, TASS reported that Griner’s detainment would be extended for more than two months, until May 19, after a court petition to investigate the charges had been approved. That day, a State Department representative said that American consular representatives had still not been able to meet with Griner.

However, on March 23, U.S. officials confirmed that an American embassy representative had been granted access to meet with Griner. During a press conference, spokesman Ned Price said Griner was “doing as well as can be expected under these very difficult circumstances.”

On April 11 WNBA Commissioner Cathy Englebert said that the league was working with Griner’s legal team, her agent, and the U.S. government to get Griner home as quickly as possible.

“This is an unimaginable situation for BG to be in. She continues to have our full support,” Englebert said, referencing Griner by her initials. “We know she’s safe, but we want to get her home so it’s a really complex situation.”

About three weeks later on May 3, the WNBA released a statement that Griner’s initials and jersey number would be featured on each court this season and that the league granted both roster and salary cap relief for Phoenix Mercury to hire a temporary replacement player to fill Griner’s spot.

On the same day, the State Department said in a statement that Griner had been “wrongfully detained” by the Russian government, adding that “the welfare and safety of U.S. citizens abroad is among the highest priorities of the U.S government.” The agency said that a new team within the agency would begin overseeing her case. On May 13, Griner was denied a request for house arrest and her detention was extended by another 30 days. The U.S. Embassy said that throughout the month, their requests to see Griner were repeatedly denied.

On June 14, Griner’s pretrial detention was extended once more until July 2. Then, at Griner’s June 27 closed-door preliminary hearing, the court set a trial start date for July 1 and extended her detention until Dec. 20 to accommodate the length of the trial.
Public outcry over Griner’s detention

Advocacy groups, Griner’s teammates and basketball fans alike have spent the last several months writing petitions, organizing protests and pleading with legislators to negotiate with Russian officials for Griner’s safe return home. Protests ensued in Phoenix, where Griner’s WNBA team is based. Members of the WNBA team met with the State Department in early June to discuss what could be done about Griner’s case.

“There is a lot involved in getting her back home and safe, they’re working relentlessly,” Mercury star Diana Taurasi said in a statement after the meeting. “We’re here to do whatever we can to amplify and keep BG at the forefront, which is more important than any basketball game and anything else that’s going on in our lives. We want BG to come home as soon as possible, it’s number one on our list.”

Tim Bradley, a former FBI agent, told TIME in March that people of color and LGBTQ+ people face a different level of risk in Russia. “The Russian government has a very closed view towards the LGBTQ community. That could have made her a more obvious target for them,” Bradley said.

On May 17, Griner’s agent, Lindsay Kagawa Colas, expressed on Twitter that Griner’s detention is a human rights violation and that she was being used by Russia for diplomatic leverage.

“International law requires that Russia provide consular access to #BrittneyGriner and that access has now been denied three times. This proves Brittney is being used as a political bargaining chip,” Colas wrote.

Griner’s wife, Cherelle Griner, has also said Griner is a “political pawn.” Cherelle has made public requests for President Biden to intervene in Griner’s release, and she’s shared scorn over the American government’s handling of the case. As of Friday, a petition to free Griner on change.org had nearly 290,000 signatures.
How Russia is responding

On March 5, the U.S. State Department issued a “do not travel” advisory for Russia in light of the invasion of Ukraine, warning that Americans faced potential harassment from Russian security officials and that the U.S. Embassy in Moscow could only offer limited assistance to Americans there.

Despite public outcry over Griner’s case, relatively few political figures have weighed in. According to government and legal analysts and experts interviewed by The New York Times, limiting statements and attention on the case could be helpful for Griner’s freedom because of the widely-held belief that Russian President Vladimir Putin is staunchly against caving to Western demands, especially since global outrage ensued over the invasion of Ukraine.

Political commentators have largely said that ongoing geopolitical tension between Russia and the West—including sanctions and military support for Ukraine—have weakened Griner’s possibility of release.

Bradley also told TIME that Griner’s arrest was “right out of the Russian playbook.” “I have to believe that she was targeted, based on the pending invasion of Ukraine. The Russian government has a long history of wrongfully detaining U.S. citizens,” he said. “It just doesn’t pass the smell test… It’s not shocking that the Russian government would do this.”

Russian news outlets and political pundits have circulated the idea of a prisoner swap as a possible solution for Griner’s release, after a successful swap earlier this year that brought a detained former U.S. Marine home from Russia. Russian news outlets have brought up Viktor Bout, an international arms dealer imprisoned in the United States, as a strong potential match to exchange for Griner. However, criticism has emerged over the stark differences in the two prisoners’ alleged crimes. Security experts are also worried that such a swap could encourage future hostage-taking.
The trial

Griner’s trial began July 1, but there’s no information about what type of evidence Russian prosecutors will bring against Griner.

Legal analysts told The New York Times that a conviction is very likely because “there’s no real idea or expectation that the defendant could be innocent” when they go to trial in Russia, all of the evidence used in a case comes from the prosecution, and there is no right to trial by jury. Cases that make it to trial are also far more likely to end in convictions. Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon, a Ph.D. student in the history department at the University of Pennsylvania, told The Times that there is a chance that Griner might win her freedom, after all, perhaps through a prisoner exchange, a lesser conviction, a fine or some other twist in her lengthy pursuit of justice.

As Griner’s trial began, U.S. Charge d’Affaires in Moscow Elizabeth Rood said that Griner told her she was “keeping the faith.”

STALINIST SHOW TRIAL
Brittney Griner found guilty in Russian court, sentenced to nine years in prison

Jeff Eisenberg
Thu, August 4, 2022

Brittney Griner, center, is escorted in a court room prior to a hearing in Khimki just outside Moscow, Russia, on Thursday. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Inside her metal courtroom cage, a solemn, stone-faced Brittney Griner learned how long she’ll be locked away in Russian prison if the Biden administration can’t broker a deal to secure her release.

A Russian judge handed down a harsh nine-year sentence on Thursday, rejecting the WNBA star’s emotional apology and plea for leniency for the “honest mistake” of bringing less than a gram of cannabis oil into the country last February.

Griner was found guilty of drug possession and drug smuggling with criminal intent. The judge fined her 1 million rubles, roughly $16,300 U.S. dollars, in addition to sentencing Griner to just shy of the maximum 10 years that she was eligible to receive.

As the judge announced Griner’s verdict in Russian, a translator relayed what was said to the WNBA star. Griner displayed little emotion besides an occasional shake of her head or purse of her lips, but her supporters weren’t nearly so silent.

Standing outside the courthouse, Elizabeth Rood, Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, called the ruling a "miscarriage of justice."

President Biden echoed that soon afterward, describing Griner's nine-year sentence as "unacceptable" and pledging to "work tirelessly and pursue every possible avenue" to bring her home.

"I call on Russia to release her immediately so she can be with her wife, loved ones, friends, and teammates," Biden added.

In a joint statement to reporters, Griner’s attorneys, Maria Blagovolina and Alexander Boykov, called her nine-year sentence “absolutely unreasonable” and said they “will certainly file an appeal.”

"As legal professionals, we believe that the court should be fair to everyone regardless of nationality,” the attorneys’ statement read. “The court completely ignored all the evidence of the defense, and most importantly, the guilty plea. This contradicts the existing legal practice.”

The judge’s ruling comes nearly six months after she flew into a Moscow airport and Russian customs officials allegedly found .702 grams of cannabis oil in her luggage. That’s less than the weight of a pen cap or a stick of gum, yet prosecutors alleged it was enough to meet the “significant amount” threshold under Russian law and asked the judge to sentence Griner to nine and a half years in prison.

In her final statement to the judge at the end of closing arguments on Thursday, an emotional Griner apologized to her family, her teammates and her Russian club for "the embarrassment I brought on them."

"I never meant to hurt anybody," she said. "I never meant to put in jeopardy the Russian population. I never meant to break any laws here. I made an honest mistake and I hope that, in your ruling, that it doesn’t end my life here.

"I know that everybody keeps talking about political pawns and politics, but I hope that is far from this courtroom. I want to say again that I had no intent of breaking Russian laws. I had no intent. I did not conspire or plan to commit this crime."

That Griner’s words fell on deaf ears was no surprise. Experts have said for weeks that the real purpose of Griner’s trial was to paint a veneer of legitimacy on the Kremlin’s desire to hold her until it could extract concessions out of the U.S for her return. A guilty verdict and a long sentence were the outcome that gave Russia the most leverage with the Biden administration facing mounting pressure to bring Griner home.

“Look, the Russians are good at this stuff unfortunately,” said former State Department foreign services officer David Salvo, the deputy director of the Alliance for Securing Democracy and an expert on Russian foreign policy. “It's just a really unfortunate scenario for Brittney. You have a heavily politicized case with lots of attention all over American society and lots of pressure on the Biden Administration. The Russians are going to try to get every bit they can out of this.”

At the same time as Griner’s trial has unfolded inside a cramped courtroom outside Moscow, the question of her fate has also been discussed at the highest levels of U.S-Russian diplomacy. Last Friday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov to urge him to accept the U.S.’s “substantial proposal” to secure the release of Griner and Paul Whelan, another American whom the government considers wrongfully detained.

Blinken has declined to share details of the offer, but he has not denied reports that President Biden has signed off on trading a notorious Russian arms trafficker with high-level government and military intelligence connections. Viktor Bout is serving a 25-year sentence in an Illinois federal prison for conspiring to kill Americans and sell weapons to Colombian terrorists.

Griner’s sentence and guilty verdict essentially ends one chapter of her detainment and begins another. Russia has hinted that it will more seriously engage in negotiations once Griner’s trial is over — and the ultimate length of her stint in Russian prison will be determined by how long it takes Russia and the U.S. to negotiate a deal to bring her home.

William Pomeranz, an expert on Russian law and politics, predicted that the Kremlin won’t be in any hurry to accept the Biden administration’s 2-for-1 offer for Bout. Whereas Biden is under increasing domestic pressure to free Griner, Vladimir Putin doesn’t face the same level of urgency to bring Bout home.

“The U.S. pretty much laid its cards on the table, and now it’s the Russians who are in the driver’s seat,” said Pomeranz, the acting director of the Kennan Institute. “They can now dictate whether this prisoner swap happens and how fast this moves.”

As Griner waited on the diplomatic negotiations, there was little she could do to help her own cause. She couldn't fight against the inevitability of a guilty verdict. All she and her legal team could do was try in vain to make a case for a lenient sentence.

On July 7, Griner confessed to inadvertently violating Russian law, telling the judge she packed in a hurry and mistakenly brought the vape cartridges with her. Griner’s attorneys subsequently summoned character witnesses and introduced mitigating evidence to corroborate the WNBA star’s account.

The team captain and team director from Griner’s Russian basketball club testified on her behalf and described her as an exemplary citizen on and off the court. Griner’s lawyers also presented the court with an American doctor’s letter saying that Griner had been prescribed medical marijuana to help her cope with chronic pain from past basketball injuries.

In the end, none of it mattered.

As attorney and Russian legal expert Jamison Firestone said earlier this week, "“They are going to give her a lot of time. Then they are going to trade her.

Brittney Griner delivers final plea for leniency before verdict: 'I hope that in your ruling that it doesn’t end my life here'

Jeff Eisenberg
Thu, August 4, 2022 

Russian prosecutors asked a judge during closing arguments on Thursday to sentence Brittney Griner to 9 ½ years in prison, just shy of the maximum 10 years that she is eligible to receive.

Both a verdict and potential sentence in the WNBA star’s drug-smuggling trial are expected Thursday, her attorney told reporters.

Closing arguments ended with Griner herself having the final word. Standing in the defendant's cage at the back of the tiny courtroom, Griner took responsibility for her "mistake" and apologized to her family, her teammates and her Russian club for "the embarrassment I brought on them."

"I never meant to hurt anybody," Griner said. "I never meant to put in jeopardy the Russian population. I never meant to break any laws here. I made an honest mistake and I hope that in your ruling that it doesn’t end my life here.

"I know everybody keeps talking about political pawn and politics, but I hope that that is far from this courtroom," Griner continued. "I want to say again that I had no intent of breaking Russian laws. I had no intent. I did not conspire or plan to commit this crime."

For Griner, a guilty verdict has been a near certainty since even before the WNBA star confessed to packing in too great a hurry and accidentally taking vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage. Not only do Russian courts rarely acquit defendants under any circumstances, the Kremlin also has incentive to preserve its leverage in prisoner swap negotiations with the U.S.

Griner allegedly flew into Moscow on Feb. 17 carrying .702 grams of cannabis oil. That’s less than the weight of a pen cap or a stick of gum, yet prosecutors allege it’s enough to meet the “significant amount” threshold under article 229 of Russia’s criminal code, which is punishable with a prison term of 5 to 10 years.

For months, Griner and her supporters have pleaded with the Biden administration to broker a deal with the Kremlin to secure her release.

Thursday, Griner is expected to learn how long she could remain in Russian prison if those negotiations fizzle.

Yuval Weber, an expert in Russian military and political strategy, told Yahoo Sports that he expects Griner to receive the maximum possible sentence or close to it. The way Weber sees it, Russian government officials will dictate the length of Griner’s punishment based on what will allow them to extract the most out of the U.S. in negotiations for a prisoner swap or some other concession.

“The longer her sentence, the more basic leverage Russia has,” said Weber, ​​a distinguished fellow at Marine Corps University's Brute Krulak Center for Innovation and Future Warfare.

William Partlett, an associate professor at Melbourne Law School and an authority on Russian politics, told Yahoo Sports that the court doesn’t need to send Griner to prison for 10 years for the Kremlin to negotiate a favorable trade. A five-year sentence, according to Partlett, would allow Russia to portray itself as “lenient” and “forgiving” to the rest of the world while still maintaining the upper hand in negotiations with the U.S.

“The political calculus, which the Kremlin knows, is that Biden cannot let her sit in a Russian prison for that long,” Partlett said.

The one thing most experts do agree on is that the judge presiding over Griner’s case won’t be making an independent decision on her sentence. High-ranking Kremlin officials, they argue, will have the final say.

Describing Griner’s trial “entirely theater,” Dartmouth University foreign policy fellow Danielle Gilbert told Yahoo Sports “we shouldn’t trust it like we might trust a trial in the United States or other places around the world.” Gilbert said the “real purpose” of the trial is to lend a veneer of legitimacy to Russia’s efforts to hold Griner for as long as necessary while making demands for her release.

Brittney Griner, center, speaks to her lawyers in a courtroom 

prior to a hearing in Khimki just outside Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Aug. 4, 2022. 

(Evgenia Novozhenina/Pool Photo via AP)

“I’m 100 percent convinced that this is all about foreign policy leverage,” Gilbert said.

At the same time as Griner’s trial has unfolded inside a cramped courtroom outside Moscow, the question of her fate has also been discussed at the highest levels of U.S-Russian diplomacy. Last Friday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov to urge him to accept the U.S.’s “substantial proposal” to secure the release of Griner and Paul Whelan, another American whom the government considers wrongfully detained.

Blinken has declined to share details of the offer, but he has not denied reports that President Biden has signed off on trading a notorious Russian arms trafficker with high-level government and military intelligence connections. Viktor Bout is serving a 25-year sentence in an Illinois federal prison for conspiring to kill Americans and sell weapons to Colombian terrorists.

While Russian officials have not shot down the possibility that a deal can eventually be reached, they have insisted they won’t entertain any offer until the conclusion of Griner’s trial.

William Pomeranz, an expert on Russian law and politics, predicted that the Kremlin won’t be in any hurry to accept the Biden administration’s 2-for-1 offer for Bout. Whereas Biden is under increasing domestic pressure to free Griner, Vladimir Putin doesn’t face the same level of urgency to bring Bout home.

“The U.S. pretty much laid its cards on the table, and now it’s the Russians who are in the driver’s seat,” said Pomeranz, the acting director of the Kennan Institute. “They can now dictate whether this prisoner swap happens and how fast this moves.”

On July 7, Griner confessed to inadvertently violating Russian law, telling the judge she packed in a hurry and mistakenly brought the vape cartridges with her. Griner’s attorneys subsequently summoned character witnesses and introduced mitigating evidence to corroborate the WNBA star’s account.

The team captain and team director from Griner’s Russian basketball club testified on her behalf and described her as an exemplary citizen on and off the court. Griner’s lawyers also presented the court with an American doctor’s letter saying that Griner had been prescribed medical marijuana to help her cope with chronic pain from past basketball injuries.

​​Tom Firestone, ​​the former resident legal adviser at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, told Yahoo Sports that Griner’s legal team did "the right things under the circumstances” but admitted that it’s “hard to say” whether it will actually help reduce the WNBA star’s sentence. After all, recent marijuana cases involving Americans in Russia have yielded a wide variety of outcomes.

In 2019, New York college student Audrey Lorber spent less than two months in prison after she allegedly entered Russia carrying 19 grams of marijuana. A Russian court found Lorber guilty of attempting to import marijuana, but she was released with time served and exempted from paying a fine.

Last month, a Pennsylvania school teacher received a far harsher punishment. Marc Fogel was sentenced to 14 years in Russian prison after being caught with medical marijuana that he says he used to treat a back injury.

“The Marc Fogel case is the most similar to Brittney Griner’s,” Firestone said. “He had a doctor’s prescription, he expressed remorse and he still received a 14-year sentence. That doesn’t augur well for Brittney.”

Gilbert, the Dartmouth foreign policy fellow, once assumed a Russian court would stick Griner with a similarly exorbitant sentence. Then Gilbert began to reconsider after a couple of puzzling moments during Griner’s trial that didn’t fit the max-punishment narrative.

First, prosecutors revealed that Griner had less than a gram of hash oil in her luggage at the time of her arrest. Then, Griner’s defense team was allowed to call Russian witnesses to speak on her behalf.

“That, in some ways, is inconsistent with a show trial where they’re going to smack her with the maximum possible sentence,” Gilbert said. “It allowed me to imagine a scenario where they might go another route.”

To Gilbert, what that means isn’t that Griner has received a fair trial. It’s that Russia could be playing “3D chess.”

“It might also be part of a strategy to make it look like this trial is legitimate,” Gilbert said. “If they want to give her a lighter sentence, it would still be disproportionate to what she did and it might be their way of trying to pretend to the rest of the world that this isn’t a hostage taking. They want the rest of the world to believe their legal system is fair. A lighter sentence might be part of reputational management.”

Brittney Griner Breaks Down in Court While Explaining Why She Pled Guilty to Drug Charges

Kisha Forde

Thu, August 4, 2022 

Brittney Griner is speaking out ahead of her sentencing.

As part of the ongoing trial related to her drug smuggling case, the WNBA star addressed the court directly after closing arguments on Aug. 4. During her speech, the 31-year-old shared the reason why she says she pleaded guilty to drug charges following her arrest in Moscow in February.

Earlier this year, the Phoenix Mercury star—who plays for a Russian team during the off-season—was arrested at Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport for allegedly possessing vape cartridges containing cannabis oil.

"My parents taught me two important things," Griner shared. "Take ownership for your responsibilities and work hard for everything that you have. That's why I plead guilty to my charges. I understand the charges against me. I had no intent to break any Russian laws. I want the courts to understand it was an honest mistake."

Griner than explained that she was in a "rush" to get back to Russia and her basketball team after having COVID-19 while on a break in the U.S.

"I want to apologize to the fans and my teammates for the embarrassment," she said through tears. "I want to apologize to my parents and siblings, the Phoenix Mercury and WNBA organization. I never meant to hurt anybody. I never meant to break any Russian laws. I made an honest mistake and I hope that in your ruling that it doesn't end my life here."

Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Concluding her emotional speech, Griner added that she "did not conspire to commit this crime," and hopes the court takes into the account the character references sent in on her behalf. "Again I want to apologize to my teammates for any damage that I have done to them," the athlete shared. "This is my second home and all I wanted to do was win championships and make them proud."

Following her arrest in February, Griner was charged with smuggling of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, their precursors, or analogues, and with illegal acquisition, storage, transportation, manufacture, processing of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, or their analogues.

She pled guilty to all charges during the second hearing of her trial on July 7.

According to NBC News, Russian prosecutors have asked to sentence Griner to 9 and a half years in prison. Her sentencing is expected to be announced during her Aug. 4 hearing.

Brittney Griner 'won over' Russian prison guards and inmates, and they reassured the WNBA star as she finished her trial

Rebecca Cohen
Thu, August 4, 2022 at

Brittney Griner stands in the defendant's cage during her Russian trial.

REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina/Pool

Prison guards and inmates told Brittney Griner "everything will be OK!" before her sentencing.

Griner's lawyer said the Russians were "won over" by the American WNBA superstar.

Griner was sentenced to nine years in Russian prison after hashish oil was found in her bags at a Moscow airport.

Prison guards and fellow Russian inmates offered Brittney Griner support and encouragement ahead of her final Russian court appearance, her lawyer said.

As the American WNBA superstar walked, handcuffed, to her sentencing hearing on Thursday, those closest to her at the facility where she's been detained reassured her: "Everything will be OK!"

Griner's attorney in Russia, Alexander Boykov, told the court that the WNBA star had "won over" a number of guards and inmates in the Russian prison where she is being held, Jezebel's Emily Liebert reported.

Griner is escorted to a court appearance.

AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko

The two-time Olympic gold medalist was ultimately sentenced on Thursday to nine years in Russian prison after being found guilty of large-scale transportation of drugs with criminal intent. She has been held in custody near Moscow since her February arrest, when officials at a Moscow airport found vape cartridges containing hashish oil in her luggage.

She pleaded guilty to the charges early on in her trial — which began four months after she was arrested — with hopes that the move would help reduce her sentence. Instead, Griner received a sentence that was just six months less than prosecutor's requested and one year below the maximum sentence for her charge.

President Joe Biden announced in May that the US government was classifying Griner as "wrongfully detained" and later declared a national emergency to help free wrongful detainees. Just last week, the Biden administration announced that it had offered to swap a convicted Russian arms dealer, Viktor Bout, in exchange for the early release of both Griner and Paul Whelan — a former US Marine also detained in Russia.

American detainee Paul Whelan holds a sign ahead of a hearing in Moscow.

REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

But some sources suggested that the eight-time WNBA All-Star would need to be sentenced before a swap could come to fruition.

Russia has yet to formally respond to the administration's offer, but suggested that they would be interested in the swap if the US helps to free an additional convict — a Russian national who was tried, sentenced, and imprisoned for murder in Germany.

John Kirby, the Biden administration's National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications, slammed Russia's counter as "a bad faith attempt to avoid a very serious offer and proposal that the United States has put forward."

Griner.AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool

Moscow officials fired back that "loudspeaker diplomacy" wouldn't succeed in bringing the detained Americans home, signaling that the US and Russia were still quite far from agreeing to a deal.

Still, there has been mounting public pressure on the Biden administration to get her home, and the prospect of Griner heading to a penal colony only increases the urgency of the situation. Biden, for his part, called on Russia to release Griner immediately after she was sentenced.

Conservatives Join Trump in Siding With Russia After Brittney Griner Guilty Verdict

Althea Legaspi

ROLLING STONE
Thu, August 4, 2022 


Brittney Griner was found guilty of smuggling illegal narcotics into Russia and sentenced to nine years in prison on Thursday. Griner had told the court she used marijuana for medicinal purposes, as is legal in the United States and other countries. She was caught with less than a gram of cannabis oil.

Former President Trump bashed Griner recently, calling her “a potentially spoiled person” who went to Russia “loaded up with drugs,” and right-wingers are now celebrating the verdict on social media in step with the Russian state, which found no sympathy for WNBA star and two-time U.S. Olympic gold champ.

Right-wing author Dinesh D’Souza used the conviction to defend Jan. 6 insurrectionists who tried to overthrow the U.S. government. “It seems like the Russians are doing to Griner what the Biden administration is doing to non-violent January 6 protesters,” D’Souza wrote. “Hard for us to feign indignation when the same thing is going on here!”


Conservative pundit Tomi Lahren showed her trademark lack of empathy, taking aim at Griner’s activism for racial justice and implying she hates America. “Brittney Griner is a cautionary tale. Hate America? Think it’s oppressive? Go to another country, play stupid games and find out what oppression and ‘No justice’ looks like. Too bad too sad.”


Commentator Tim Young whose Twitter handle is apropos for his comment, wrote “Brittney Griner is not a political prisoner… she carried drugs that were illegal with her in Russia and was arrested – there’s nothing ‘political’ about that.”


Trump-approved conservative commentator/author Nick Adams blamed Griner’s support of President Biden for the sentence and falsely claimed there would not have been an invasion of Ukraine had his Dear Leader been president. “While discussing Brittney Griner’s prison sentence, I think it’s important to note that Russia would have NEVER invaded Ukraine with Trump still in the White House,” Adams wrote. “In a way, Brittney Griner’s jail time is a result of her own activism and support of Joe Biden.”


As Media Matters pointed out in the lead-up to the sentencing, conservatives have been using Griner as a pawn alongside Russia, with each side furthering their agenda. The right wing wanted Trump as president over Biden and claim Trump would’ve saved Griner from jail. Meanwhile Russia likely wanted to exchange Griner for convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who is currently imprisoned in America.

However, when the State Department made the offer to include U.S. Marine Corps veteran and former security executive Paul Whelan, Russia countered that offer with what the White House called a “bad faith” counter offer. President Biden addressed Griner’s detention following the guilty verdict on Thursday. “Russia is wrongfully detaining Brittney,” he wrote in a statement. “It’s unacceptable, and I call on Russia to release her immediately so she can be with her wife, loved ones, friends, and teammates. My administration will continue to work tirelessly and pursue every possible avenue to bring Brittney and Paul Whelan home safely as soon as possible.”

More from Rolling Stone

Brittney Griner Found Guilty in Russian Drug Smuggling Trial, Sentenced to 9 Years in Prison


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Russian basketball colleagues testify to Brittney Griner's character in court


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WNBA and Phoenix Mercury star Brittney Griner faces as many as 10 years in Russian prison on the drug charges to which she pleaded guilty last week. File Photo by Richard Ellis/UPI | License Photo

July 14 (UPI) -- WNBA basketball star Brittney Griner's former teammate and the director of her team in Russia testified to her character Thursday during a court hearing in Moscow.

Evgeniya Belyakova, the captain of team UMMC Ekaterinburg, told the court the team misses Griner and "her energy."

"Brittney has always been a good teammate, which is why my role here is to support her and be there for her," said Belyakova, who was also the one-time captain of the Russian national team.

Team director Maksim Ryabkov said Griner played a "big role" in the team and Russian women's basketball in general, according to CNN.

The trial is expected to resume Friday morning, The New York Times reported.

Thursday was Griner's first court appearance after her surprise decision to plead guilty to drug charges last week.

Russian authorities took the Phoenix Mercury star and two-time Olympic gold medalist into custody in February after they said they found vaping cartridges in her luggage containing less than a gram of hashish oil, which is against the law in Russia.

RELATED Biden, Harris speak to Brittney Griner's wife about efforts to release her from Russia

After she was detained for weeks and her family appealed to U.S. President Joe Biden to work to secure her release, Griner pleaded guilty to the charges last week, hoping for leniency from the court.

Griner could face as many as 10 years in prison on the charges.

Griner, who has played in Russia during the WNBA off-season, is a two-time Olympic gold medalist for the Team USA women's basketball team.

 File Photo by Richard Ellis/UPI

Some U.S. officials have argued that Russia is using the women's basketball star, who played in Russia during the WNBA off-season, as a political pawn.

RELATED Trial starts in Russia for WNBA star Brittney Griner

In May, the U.S. State Department reclassified Griner's case as a "wrongful detention" and the White House has not yet said whether it's considering a possible prisoner exchange to secure her release.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow would not be pressured into making a deal.

"We urge the U.S. authorities not to exploit this sensitive matter affecting the fates of certain individuals, and we advise them to abandon futile attempts to pressure us," Zakharova said according to The Washington Post.

Griner's lawyers show medical cannabis prescription to Russian court

CBSNews - 

WNBA star Brittney Griner appeared in a Moscow courtroom for the second day in a row Friday, and her legal team said it had presented new evidence to help explain why she entered Russia with a cannabis product that led to her arrest.

Griner's lawyers defend possession of vape cartridges with U.S. prescription for medical cannabis

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Her trial resumed Thursday, about a week after Griner entered a guilty plea before the court, which analysts believe may have been her best chance at securing an eventual pardon, or at least leniency, given the Russian court system's near-perfect conviction rate.

Maria Blagovolina, one of the lawyers representing Griner, said her legal team had presented evidence Friday including "characterization materials, medical records and tax returns." Among the medical documentation was a doctor's prescription for the substance that Griner has admitted bringing into Russia mistakenly as she packed her bags in a rush.

Friday's was the fourth hearing in the Phoenix Mercury player's trial. She's facing up to 10 years in prison on drug possession and smuggling charges. Griner has already spent about five months in custody after being detained at a Moscow airport with what prosecutors say were vape cartridges containing cannabis-derived oil.

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Her admission of guilt was seen largely as a bid by her legal team to get a verdict as quickly as possible and prevent the trial from dragging out, as Moscow is unlikely to respond to any attempts by Washington to secure her release until the court process has played out.


© Provided by CBS NewsBrittney Griner back in court after pleading guilty to drug charges 02:59

The Biden administration considers the basketball star "wrongfully detained," and legal experts believe Griner's best chance of walking free is if Russia and the U.S. can agree to a prisoner swap.

As she appeared for Thursday's hearing, Moscow warned the U.S. against exerting any pressure, especially in public, to secure Griner's release.

"We urge the U.S. government not to speculate on such sensitive matters which affect the fates of specific people, and we advise to refrain from futile attempts to pressure us and focus on practical work through established channels," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said at a press briefing on Thursday.

"Griner's legal proceedings are ongoing, and until they conclude, it is premature to discuss any options of her return home," Zakharova added.


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WNBA star Brittney Griner pleads guilty to drug charges in Russia 02:51

Russian media have speculated that the Kremlin will seek to exchange Griner for Viktor Bout, a convicted arms dealer known as the "Merchant of Death," who has been in U.S. custody since 2008. Another name floated by Russian officials is that of Roman Seleznev, who's serving a 27-year prison sentence in the U.S. on cyber fraud charges.


At the Thursday hearing, the court heard witnesses for the defense who testified to Griner's character. Maxim Ryabkov, the head of the Russian basketball club UMMC Ekaterinburg, where Griner plays during the U.S. off-season, said he had never "seen or heard" Griner using drugs in the seven years he's worked with her.

The captain of the team, Evgenia Belyakova, testified in the hearing that Griner is a "responsible person," and said she believes it would have been impossible for Griner to use drugs and perform on the team given their demanding game schedule.

On Friday, the judge scheduled the next hearing for July 26. The defense had asked for a week to meet with Griner to help her prepare to give testimony.

Russia needs to release Brittney Griner. And US leaders need to fix our cannabis laws.

Sarah Gersten

Fri, July 8, 2022 

As the trial for WNBA star Brittany Griner continues in Russia, politicians, celebrities and ordinary people who are outraged that Griner could face 10 years in prison for packing some hash oil cartridges in her carry-on have ramped up their push for her release.

Grassroots protests have been organized across the United States, from Phoenix, Arizona, to Harlem in New York. A petition on Change.org surpassed 310,000 signatures. Celebrities, athletes and prominent politicians continue to pile on the pressure.

The near universal support for Griner is by no means surprising. Not only is she a beloved, internationally recognized athlete, but the majority of Americans (68%, to be precise) support legalizing marijuana. Seventy percent of Americans also support clearing past cannabis convictions from criminal records for nonviolent offenders.
Cannabis is a Schedule I drug in the USA

Ironically – and despite the public’s overwhelming support for an end to cannabis criminalization – the draconian Russian laws that led to Griner’s detention are similar to our own. After all, cannabis remains a Schedule I drug in the United States. This means that under federal drug trafficking guidelines, any U.S. citizen could face a jail sentence for flying with hash oil.

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That's not a hypothetical situation. More than 100,000 Americans languish in pretrial detention on drug charges. And, like Griner in Russia, non-U.S. citizens are regularly prosecuted under our harsh drug laws for crossing our border with cannabis.

WNBA star Brittney Griner has been detained in Russia since Feb. 17, 2022, when Russian officials alleged she was carrying vape cartridges with hashish oil in her luggage while returning to the Russian basketball club she plays for during the offseason.

Of course, there is a major differentiating factor in Griner’s case. She’s a celebrity. But excepting her status as a pro athlete, Griner – a Black gay woman – would be subject to the disproportionately higher rates of enforcement for cannabis possession that affect marginalized communities, particularly people of color, in the United States.

Griner pleaded guilty Thursday but said she did not intend to violate Russia's laws. Russian officials have signaled their openness to negotiating Griner's fate with the United States only after a verdict is reached in her case.

Russian authorities need to stop using Griner as a political pawn and release her from detention. At the same time, U.S. authorities must stop acting hypocritically and change our laws so we’re not continuing to unjustly detain people for cannabis here at home.
President Biden has yet to act on cannabis reform

For those aware of the state of cannabis criminalization in America, the Biden administration’s underwhelming response to this case comes as no surprise.

Why isn't WNBA's Brittney Griner home? Americans need to know

War on cops? Far from it. Biden takes a nudge-and-nurture approach to police reform.

Despite promising to release those in jail for cannabis and expunge their records, President Joe Biden has done nothing when it comes to cannabis policy reform.

Although more and more states have chosen to legalize marijuana, federal cannabis arrests – which had been steadily declining for the past decade – actually increased from 2020 to 2021.

Given the fact Biden has failed to help release tens of thousands of individuals wrongfully detained on nonviolent cannabis charges here in America, it feels naive to expect him to secure Griner's freedom. (In a call Wednesday, Biden told Griner's wife that he is working to get Griner released "as soon as possible.")

Nonetheless, we must continue to push our elected leaders on this popular, bipartisan issue.

Congress must act – quickly

Our best hope for domestic change lies with Congress, as pundits expect Biden will sign a federal legalization bill that includes broad criminal justice provisions if one makes it to his desk. This is a daunting task, of course.

The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act passed a vote in the House but has failed to gain traction in the Senate.

That said, we have at least two more bites at the apple. The long-anticipated Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act, co-sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, is said to be nearing introduction. And there remains some traction behind the Republican-led States Reform Act.

Can Congress bag a cannabis bill? Legalization hopes may be soaring too high.

It’s worth noting that both the MORE Act and the States Reform Act include language that would resentence federal cannabis prisoners and clear some of their records. A forthcoming bill from Senate Democrats is also expected to automatically expunge nonviolent federal marijuana crimes and provide for resentencing.

Even so, Congress needs to act, and fast. The midterm elections are just a few months away, and a Republican-controlled Congress would make the already difficult prospect of federal legalization a nonstarter.

Sarah Gersten is the executive director and general counsel of Last Prisoner Project.

If we truly want to progress past our country’s shameful war on drugs, the time to act is now.

Sarah Gersten, executive director and general counsel of Last Prisoner Project, is also a member of the National Cannabis Bar Association, the NORML Legal Committee and the National Lawyers Guild.

This column is part of a series by USA TODAY Opinion about police accountability and building safer communities. The project began in 2021 by examining qualified immunity and continues in 2022 by examining various ways to improve law enforcement. The project is made possible in part by a grant from Stand Together, which does not provide editorial input.

WNBA's Brittney Griner deserves our support as she sits in a Russian jail cell

Danielle Gilbert

Thu, July 7, 2022 

WNBA superstar Brittney Griner is imprisoned in Russia, and the public silence has been deafening. It’s hard to imagine a male athlete with Griner’s record – a seven-time All-Star player and two-time Olympic gold medalist holding mind-boggling records in dunks and blocked shots – sitting for months in a Russian prison.

A letter from Griner was recently delivered to President Joe Biden, appealing for help: "As I sit here in a Russian prison, alone with my thoughts and without the protection of my wife, family, friends, Olympic jersey, or any accomplishments, I’m terrified I might be here forever.”

Many WNBA fans have wondered: What if, instead, an NBA champion had been wrongfully detained? The same question was pondered by Griner's coach, Vanessa Nygaard.

Brittney Griner pleaded guilty on July 7, 2022, in a Russian court on drug charges that have led the U.S. government to classify her as "wrongfully detained." The WNBA star is due back in court in a week, Reuters reported. Griner's guilty plea is unlikely to change much, because her pretrial detention already had been extended for six more months. The trial could last that long, and it's likely a predetermined outcome has already been decided at a higher level, Russian legal expert Jamison Firestone told USA TODAY.

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It’s not Griner’s gender but rather the circumstances of her arrest inviting silence if not outright hostility from the American public. When Americans are taken hostage by foreign governments, silence can be a good strategy. But in Griner’s case, it showcases our biases – and weakens efforts to bring her home.

In February, the Olympian was detained by Russian authorities, who allegedly found a vape cartridge with hashish oil in her luggage. Griner has been accused of transporting illegal narcotics and could be sentenced up to 10 years in Russian prison.

On Thursday, she pleaded guilty to drug charges in a Russian court: "I'd like to plead guilty, your honor. But there was no intent. I didn't want to break the law."
'Understated, if not hostile'

In the weeks after Griner’s arrest, the world heard little of her ordeal as Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine.

If Russian President Vladimir Putin intended to hold Griner hostage, the logic went, he would want to evaluate how much she was worth. More attention could mean a higher price in a deal to bring her home.

However, as criminal justice gave way to farce, Griner’s circle has broken their silence. While Russian media float a potential prisoner exchange, Griner’s supporters launched a Change.org petition to press the White House to negotiate her release. The WNBA paid tribute to Griner on all home courts. The Boston Celtics wore "WE ARE BG" shirts to practice during the NBA finals. Several star players – including Stephen Curry, Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James – have used their platforms to advocate for her freedom.

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The reaction to this campaign has been understated, if not hostile. As of Thursday, more than 300,000 people have signed the online petition calling for Griner’s release. This sounds like a lot, until you compare it with over 270,000 opposing chicken abuse or more than 400,000 supporting males wearing nail polish in school. Over 536,000 signed a petition to release Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian from Iranian prison.

Moreover, some online responses have been negative, arguing that because Griner (allegedly) broke a law, she should be punished.
Who deserves sympathy?

What explains the surprisingly muted – and in some cases negative – response to Griner’s plight? In short, Americans deem some hostages “bad victims,” unworthy of government support.

WNBA star and two-time Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner is escorted to a courtroom outside Moscow on July 7, 2022.

First, the media sees some victims as more newsworthy than others. Griner is a record-breaking, all-star athlete, but she’s also Black, gay and gender nonconforming. Research shows some of these traits could make her far less likely to receive the same attention that another victim might. A theory known as the "missing white woman syndrome" suggests that white, female hostages are far more likely to receive attention than their nonwhite counterparts.
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Second, the American public sees some victims as more deserving than others. Deservingness is the notion that how someone came to require help is an important determinant for whether she should receive it.

In ongoing research, Lauren Prather and I show that the deservingness heuristic explains support for hostage recovery efforts. The government must expend resources to bring hostages home through prisoner exchanges, ransom payments or rescue missions – risking votes, treasure and lives. American citizens vary in the extent to which they believe that hostages used poor judgment or were simply unlucky in getting captured.

Those Americans who believe that hostages are responsible for the circumstances of their captivity are less likely to deem those hostages worthy of recovery – and are therefore more likely to oppose government efforts to bring the hostage home.

This research may shed light on the seemingly underwhelming response to the WE ARE BG movement. Despite lacking any credible evidence that Griner was transporting narcotics, some Americans are quick to say that she broke a law. Some question Griner’s judgment in traveling to Russia at a time of increasing international tensions. To those holding such views, Griner deserves to be punished – not helped – for her personal responsibility in being detained by an autocratic state.

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On Wednesday, President Joe Biden spoke by phone with Cherelle Griner, the WNBA star's wife, and read her a letter that he plans to send the basketball player while she remains detained in Russia.

"The president called Cherelle to reassure her that he is working to secure Brittney’s release as soon as possible," the White House said in a statement that also singled out Biden's efforts to bring home Paul Whelan and other U.S. nationals "wrongfully detained or held hostage" in Russia. "He also read her a draft of the letter the president is sending to Brittney Griner today."

The White House would not disclose what Biden's letter says.

If the goal of advocacy campaigns is to pressure the Biden administration to act, more public support for deserving victims should translate to more public pressure. The tendency to blame Griner and other detainees for their circumstances will only make that harder.

Danielle Gilbert is a Rosenwald Fellow in U.S. Foreign Policy and International Security at the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding at Dartmouth College.

Danielle Gilbert is a Rosenwald Fellow in U.S. Foreign Policy and International Security at the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding at Dartmouth College. Follow her on Twitter: @_danigilbert

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Brittney Griner is languishing in Russian prison. America should care.

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