American basketball player Brittney Griner is appealing her drug possession conviction handed down by a Moscow court. The appeal comes two weeks after the basketball champion was sentenced to nine years in prison. Her lawyer, Maria Blagovolina, announced this decision with a statement on Telegram, at a time when the United States and Russia are negotiating a possible prisoner exchange.
Griner was arrested on February 17 at Moscow airport in possession of cannabis oil. After pleading guilty during the trial and claiming she made a “mistake”, she was sentenced to nine years in prison for a crime of drug possession and smuggling.
The White House, for which Griner’s arrest was unfair, offered to swap the player and former Marine Paul Whelan – jailed in Russia on espionage charges – in exchange for arms dealer Viktor Bout. , known as the ‘war merchant’, who faces a 25-year prison sentence in the United States.