Brittney Griner: Russian Court Denies Appeal of Nine-Year Prison Sentence
A court in Russia has denied the appeal of Brittney Griner, a US basketball player currently held in Russia over possession of cannabis oil.
Ms Griner, who had come to Russia to play club basketball during the US off season, was detained on 17 February in a Moscow airport shortly after vape cartridges containing cannabis oil were seen in her luggage.
According to the BBC, the court near Moscow upheld the nine year sentence with the state prosecutor calling it "fair". Ms Griner apologised for her "honest mistake" in the appeal hearing, saying that it had been "very, very stressful".
Her lawyer, Alexander Boykov, said his legal team would be in talks with Ms Griner as to whether she would want to appeal again. He also said: "No judge, hand on heart, will honestly say that Griner's nine-year sentence is in line with Russian criminal law."
US President, Joe Biden, has said that the US is constantly contacting Russia to get her and other prisoners out. He also said: "So far, we have not been meeting with much positive response, but we're not stopping."
Ned Price, a spokesperson for the US. Secretary of State revealed that Secretary of State Antony Blinken had made a proposal to Russia for the release of Brittney Griner. He also said: "We believe Russia should engage seriously and in good faith on this proposal, and we've continued to urge Moscow to do so, including in recent days".
Cherelle Griner, Ms Griner's wife, has said that her spouse is a "hostage" of the Russian government. She also expressed worry that her wife "has anything left in her tank to continue to wake up every day and be in a place where she has no-one".
In August, a Russian court sentenced Ms Griner to nine years on drug charges.
The court found Ms Griner guilty of smuggling and possessing “a significant amount of narcotics”, Judge Anna Sotnikova said in the town of Khimki, outside Moscow. Ms Griner was also fined one million rubles ($16,300).