MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian court on Tuesday rejected an appeal by U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner of her 9-year prison sentence for drug possession, a step that could move her closer to a possible high-stakes prisoner swap between Moscow & Washington.
The 8-time all-star center with the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury & a 2-time Olympic gold medalist was convicted Aug. 4 after police said they found vape canisters containing cannabis oil in her luggage at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport.
Griner’s arrest in February came at a time of heightened tensions between Moscow & Washington, just days before Russia sent troops into Ukraine. At the time, Griner was returning to play for a Russian team during the WNBA’s offseason.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the decision “another failure of justice, compounding the injustice of her detention,” adding that “securing her release is our priority.”
Before her conviction, the U.S. State Department declared Griner to be “wrongfully detained” — a charge that Russia has sharply rejected.
U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said in a statement that U.S. President Joe Biden “is willing to go to extraordinary lengths & make tough decisions to bring Americans home.”
Blinken didn’t elaborate, but news organizations have reported that Washington has offered to exchange Griner along with Paul Whelan, an American serving a 16-year sentence in Russia for espionage, Viktor Bout. A Russian arms dealer who is serving a 25-year sentence in the U.S. & once earned the nickname the “merchant of death.”
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