US National Women’s Basketball Association (NBA) basketball player Brittney Griner, who was detained at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport and later charged with illegal marijuana possession, stands at the pre-trial defendants’ cage in Khimki, outside Moscow, on August 4, 2022. .
Evgenia Novozhenina | AFP | Getty Pictures
WASHINGTON — A Russian court will hear WNBA star Brittney Griner’s appeal Tuesday after the American athlete was convicted on drug charges earlier this year.
Before the hearing, Griner’s lawyers told NBC News that the two-time Olympic gold medalist was “pretty pessimistic” that the judge would overrule the court’s original decision.
“She hopes there will be some reduction in her sentence,” Griner’s lawyer, Maria Blagovolina, told NBC News’ Andrea Mitchell, adding that the 32-year-old athlete will appear in court via videoconference.
Griner, who played professional basketball in Russia during the WNBA off-season, was arrested in February after Russian authorities found vape cans containing cannabis oil in his luggage at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport.
His lawyers said Griner only used marijuana for medical purposes, and because the professional athlete was in a hurry, he inadvertently packed cans of cannabis into his suitcase.
Under Russian law, the charge included a prison sentence of up to 10 years. In August, Griner was found guilty and sentenced to nine years in prison. He was also ordered to pay 1 million rubles, that is, about 16,301 dollars.
The court’s decision came as the Biden administration struggled to secure his release.
A week before the decision, the Biden administration confirmed that it had made a proposal to the Russian government for the release of Griner and former US sailor Paul Whelan.
‘I’m afraid to be here forever’
US WNBA basketball superstar Brittney Griner stands in the defendants’ cage before the trial at the Khimki Court outside Moscow on July 26, 2022.
Alexander Zemlianichenko | AFP | Getty Pictures
Days before pleading guilty last month, Griner wrote a letter to President Joe Biden seeking direct assistance with his case.
“I’m sitting here alone in a Russian prison, without the protection of my wife, family, friends, Olympic jersey or any of my achievements, and alone with my thoughts,” the professional athlete wrote in July. 5 letters.
“I know you’re dealing with a lot, but please don’t forget me and the other American detainees. Please do your best to bring us home,” Griner said.
After receiving the letter, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris called Cherelle Griner, the wife of the WNBA star. Biden also wrote a response to Griner that it was hand-delivered by US diplomats in Moscow.
According to the White House phone call, Biden assured his wife that he was working to get Griner’s release as soon as possible. She also told Cherelle Griner that she was working to get Whelan, who is serving a 16-year sentence in Russia, to be released.
Whelan was arrested in 2018 on charges of spying for the United States. According to his brother, David Whelan, at the time of his arrest Whelan was visiting Russia to attend a wedding.
Griner’s arrest and subsequent arrest came as the West repeatedly warned Russian President Vladimir Putin to withdraw hundreds of thousands of troops stationed on the Ukrainian border. After Russia’s extensive invasion of its former Soviet neighbor, the United States and its allies imposed a series of punitive sanctions on Moscow and built a multi-billion dollar war chest for Kyiv.
Two months into the war, Russia agreed to free Trevor Reed, former US Navy Chief, in a prisoner swap.
Reed was accused of assaulting a Russian police officer in 2019 and was detained by the authorities there. He was later sentenced to nine years in a Russian prison. Reed and his family maintained his innocence, and the US government described him as wrongfully imprisoned.
For Reed’s release, Biden agreed to free Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, who was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for conspiring to smuggle cocaine into the United States.
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