The Russian Court of Appeal has validated the nine-year prison sentence handed down last August against the American basketball player for cannabis trafficking.
Source AFP
© KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP
Published on
Link copied
Copy link
SIn the midst of strong tensions between the United States and Russia, the court in Krasnogorsk, in the Moscow region, rejected the appeal of American basketball player Brittney Griner. Arrested in Moscow in possession of a vaporizer containing cannabis-based liquid, Brittney Griner was sentenced in August 2022 to nine years in prison. His sentence, at the end of the appeal, therefore remains unchanged, while the White House is calling for his immediate release.
“President Joe Biden has been very clear that Brittney must be released immediately,” reacted White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, regretting that she continues to be “Wrongfully imprisoned, according to unacceptable circumstances, after having to endure yet another bogus legal proceeding today.”
“It was very stressful and very traumatic”
In this new verdict, only one relaxation compared to the initial sentence: each day spent in detention before her conviction by Brittney Griner, arrested in February and imprisoned since, will be counted as a day and a half and deducted from the total of the sentence to be served. .
“I really hope that the court will adjust this verdict because it has been very, very stressful and very traumatic for my mental and psychological state,” the American basketball star, who is participating in the hearing by videoconference, said shortly before. , according to an AFP journalist. Wearing a red and black checkered shirt, Brittney Griner, 32, had expressed her sorrow at being away from her family and not being able to communicate with her. She said she “did not understand” such a severe judgment against her “while people are being inflicted much less than me for more serious crimes”.
One of his lawyers, Alexander Boïkov, had for his part asked the court to “consider an acquittal because of the dismissal”.
Under “the eyes of the whole world”
“The eyes of the whole world are on this case,” said Mr.e Boykov. “The cruelty of this judgment strikes not only the participants in the trial, but also people around the world,” he said. Brittney Griner was arrested in the Russian capital in possession of a vaporizer containing cannabis-based liquid. She admitted to having possessed this substance, however claiming to have brought it to Russia inadvertently and to use it legally in the United States as a painkiller. She had gone to Russia to play in the U.S. offseason, a common practice for WNBA female basketball players who often make a better living abroad than in the United States.
The case of this woman, who was sentenced last August to nine years in prison for cannabis trafficking, has since taken on geopolitical significance in the context of the crisis between Moscow and Washington linked to the Russian offensive in Ukraine. Other American citizens are currently incarcerated in Russia and the United States also wants to secure their release. Washington has repeatedly said it has made a “significant offer” to release two Americans imprisoned in Russia – Brittney Griner and a former US soldier, Paul Whelan. According to Russian diplomatic sources, a possible exchange of prisoners could, in particular, concern Brittney Griner and a Russian arms trafficker detained in the United States, Viktor Bout.
READ ALSO“The Merchant of Death” and the basketball player: Russia and the United States could exchange their prisoners