AP) — Lawyers for American basketball star Brittney Griner have filed an appeal of her 9-year Russian prison sentence for drug possessiony, amid talks between the U.S. & Russia that could lead to a high-profile prisoner swap.
Griner, an 8-time all-star center with the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury & 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.
The 9-year sentence was close to the maximum of 10 years.
Reflecting the growing pressure on the Biden administration to do more to bring Griner home, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken took the unusual step of revealing publicly in July that Washington had made a “substantial proposal” to get Griner home, along with Paul Whelan, an American serving a 16-year sentence in Russia for espionage.
The Associated Press & other news organizations have reported that Washington has offered to free 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.”
On Sunday, a senior Russian diplomat said talks about an exchange have been conducted.
“This quite sensitive issue of the swap of convicted Russian & U.S. citizens is being discussed through the channels defined by our presidents,” Alexander Darchiev, head of the Foreign Ministry’s North America department, told state news agency Tass. “These individuals are, indeed, being discussed. The Russian side has long been seeking the release of Viktor Bout.”
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