Brittney Griner, who faces up to 10 years in prison, was arrested in February after two cartridges of cannabis oil were found in her luggage.
The nightmare continues for American basketball player Brittney Griner. The WNBA champion and two-time Olympic champion pleaded guilty to a drug offense in a Moscow court on Thursday for which she could face up to 10 years in prison.
Griner, 31, was arrested at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport in February after two cartridges of cannabis oil were found in her luggage. Her lawyer, Alexander Boykov, has said the athlete admitted they were hers but that she inadvertently brought them to Russia, NBC reports.
His other lawyer, Maria Blagovolina, has expressed confidence in the leniency of the court, which will read the verdict of the two-time gold medalist next Thursday. Griner, who plays for a Russia national basketball team during the WNBA season, has not made a public statement since his arrest.
As the weeks of his detention have passed, requests from civil, political and religious society have increased for Washington to mediate the release of Griner, a “political pawn,” according to the White House, which describes his detention as “unjust.” “.
For their part, from within the Kremlin, they criticized this Thursday the media “noise” coming from the United States in connection with this case and warned that maneuvers like this hinder the talks that both countries have been holding for a long time possible prisoner exchanges. .
At this time, the White House has made no official mention of the possibility of conducting any kind of exchange related to this case, although Russian media has speculated about the possibility that Griner could serve as a medium of exchange.
Source: La Verdad
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