Brittney Griner, who could face up to ten years in prison, was arrested in February after two cartridges containing cannabis oil were found in her luggage.
The nightmare continues for American basketball player Brittney Griner. The champion of the WNBA (the US women’s basketball league) and two-time Olympic champion has pleaded guilty this Thursday to a drug offense before a Moscow court for which she could face a prison sentence of up to ten years from jail
Griner, 31, was detained in February at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport after two cartridges containing cannabis oil were found in her luggage. Her lawyer, Alexander Boykov, has said that the athlete has recognized that they were hers, but that she unintentionally brought them to Russia, reports NBC.
His other lawyer, Maria Blagovolina, has indicated that they trust the leniency of the court, which is scheduled to read the sentence of the two-time gold medalist next Thursday. Griner, who plays for a Russian basketball team during the WNBA offseason, has not made a public statement since her arrest.
As the weeks of his detention have gone by, requests from civil, political and religious society have increased for Washington to intercede to free Griner, a “political pawn”, according to the White House, which describes his detention as “unjust”. ».
For its part, from the Kremlin they have criticized this Thursday the media “noise” that comes from the United States in relation to this case and have warned that this type of maneuver hinders the conversations that both countries have been holding for a long time for possible exchanges of prisoners.
At the moment, the White House has not officially mentioned the possibility of carrying out any type of exchange in relation to this case, although the Russian media have speculated on the possibility that Griner could serve as a bargaining chip. with Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.
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