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| Photo Credit: AP. |
U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner was Thursday sentenced to nine years in prison in Russia for smuggling cannabis into the country. A Russian court ruled the WNBA star smuggled drugs into Russia “with criminal intent,” The Washington Times reports.
State prosecutors
proposed a jail term of 9 and half years in prison for Ms. Griner.
Why was Griner detained in Moscow?
Griner was
detained in February at Sheremetyevo Airport Moscow after vape canisters with
cannabis oil allegedly were found in her luggage. She faced charges related to
large scale transportation of drugs which carried a maximum 10 years in prison.
Griner had
earlier sent a letter to Joe Biden pleading for him to do everything possible
to secure her release and not to forget her and other American detainees in
Russia.
Biden condemns Griner's sentence
Responding
to the verdict, U.S. President Joe Biden described the sentence as “unacceptable”
and called for her immediate release.
“Today,
American citizen Brittney Griner received a prison sentence that is one more
reminder of what the world already knew: Russia is wrongfully detaining
Brittney,” the president said in a statement, The Washington Times reports.
The president
said he would “continue to work tirelessly and pursue every possible avenue” to
bring home Ms. Griner and Paul Whelan, a former Marine jailed in Russia on
espionage charges, “safely as soon as possible,” according to Washington Times.
Griner pleads guilty to cannabin possession
Earlier
Griner pleaded guilty to drug position charges, saying through an interpreter
at the Court hearing that she had acted unintentionally because she was packing
in haste.
The all-star
center for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury apologized for her “honest mistake” and
pleaded with the court for leniency.
“I hope in
your ruling it does not end my life,” she said, according to Washington Times.
Can Griner and Paul Whelan be swapped for notorious gun dealer Viktor Bout (Merchant of Death)?
Russian news
media have repeatedly raised speculation that she could be swapped for Russian
arms trader Viktor Bout, nicknamed “The Merchant of Death”. He is serving a
25-year sentence after his conviction on conspiracy to kill U.S. citizens and
providing aid to a terrorist organization.
It is not
clear if U.S. authorities could agree to any swap deal that would see the
“Merchant of Death” go home due to his record dealings in deadly weapons.
She could
also be swapped alongside Paul Whelan, a former Marine and security director
serving a 16-year sentence on an espionage conviction, a decision the U.S.
described as a set-up.
Russian
officials have indicated that any possible prisoner swap could only happen at
the end of criminal proceedings. That could give the Russians enough leverage
to negotiate her exchange.