A court sentences Brittney Griner, who was arrested in February with cannabis oil in her luggage, to nine years in prison
A Russian court on Thursday found American basketball player Brittney Griner guilty of drug trafficking. She has been sentenced to nine years in prison. Griner was arrested in Moscow in February and has been in custody ever since.
During the Khimki court hearing, the prosecutor had demanded nine years and six months in prison for the athlete, who was to serve her sentence in a general regime prison colony, the Russian press reported. The maximum sentence was ten years. In addition, Griner will be fined one million rubles, about 16,000 euros.
The 31-year-old woman, winner of two Olympic golds, was arrested at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport in February after police found two cartridges of cannabis oil in her luggage. Her lawyer, Alexander Boykov, said the athlete, who plays in Russia’s first-class basketball, admitted they were hers, but she accidentally brought them to Russia.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said a few days ago that the Biden administration will discuss a possible prisoner swap with the Kremlin, including Griner himself. The other American involved is said to be Paul Whelan, a former Marine and former head of security for a private company who was arrested in 2018 and sentenced in 2020 to 16 years in prison for espionage, a charge he denies.
Both “were wrongfully detained and should be allowed to return home,” said Blinken, who declined to reveal what his country has to offer in return. According to CNN, Washington would be willing to extradite Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who is serving a 25-year prison sentence in the US, to Moscow.
Source: La Verdad
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