Brittney Griner

Griner, 31, admitted possessing cannabis oil but told the court she made an "honest mistake". But the court convicted her of smuggling and possessing narcotics, ...

Griner also said she had received neither an explanation of her rights nor access to a lawyer in the initial hours of her detention, and that she had to use a translation app on her phone to communicate. She was detained in February at an airport near Moscow when vape cartridges containing cannabis oil were found in her luggage. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said: "Russia, and any country engaging in wrongful detention, represents a threat to the safety of everyone travelling, working, and living abroad."

The Phoenix Mercury and Connecticut Sun locked arms at halfcourt before Thursday's game to "collectively send strength" to Brittney Griner, whose trial in ...

"We weren't hanging our hopes on the Russian justice system," Nygaard said. She showed great strength and great humility." Because you try to honor her and you try to come out and still play hard for her." Thursday's verdict was expected, and the Mercury were prepared for it. "None of our tough days are as tough as any of the BG's days, right?" "We had the players in the locker room watching the verdict as we were preparing to do our shootaround. And then just to go out there and do basketball ... basketball just doesn't seem like the thing today. The players are very professional, came out did what they needed to do, and we prepared for the game. "This is a human being and our real-life friend and real-life sister. "So we always keep that in mind, and we've carried this with us for the season every day. "We invite all of you here tonight to stand and link arms in solidarity with us. "And we come out here and we're still supposed to play this f---ing game.

Brittney Griner was convicted for drug possession and smuggling after bringing vape cartridges with cannabis oil to Moscow.

They remained poker-faced, urging Washington to discuss the issue through “quiet diplomacy without releases of speculative information”. Lawyers for the Phoenix Mercury centre and two-time Olympic gold medallist have sought to bolster Griner's contention that she had no criminal intent and that the canisters ended up in her luggage by mistake. Another defence attorney, Alexander Boykov, emphasised Griner's role in taking her Yekaterinburg team to win multiple championships, noting that she was loved and admired by her teammates. “I remember vividly coming out of the gym and all the little girls that were in the stands there waiting on me, and that’s what kept making me come back here.” The Lavrov-Blinken call marked the highest-level known contact between Washington and Moscow since Russia sent troops into Ukraine more than five months ago. Earlier in the session, with a conviction all but certain, an emotional Griner made a final appeal to the court for leniency.

The US and Russia have indicated they are ready to hold talks over a prisoner swap, a day after basketball star Brittney Griner was convicted of drug ...

Earlier Friday, a US State Department official told reporters there had been no "serious response" from Russia on a proposed swap. Prior to the verdict on Thursday, Griner apologized to the court and asked for leniency in an emotional speech. And we'll be pursuing that," Blinken told reporters at a press briefing.

A Russian court found Brittney Griner guilty on drug smuggling and possession charges. She was sentenced to more than nine years in prison.

Brittney Griner, the Phoenix Mercury star, was convicted on drug charges in Russia. Hours later, her teammates had a game. “Nobody even wanted to play today ...

In May, the U.S. State Department said that it had determined that Griner was “wrongfully detained” and that its officials would work to free her. The Mercury lost the game, 77-64, with an 18-0 Sun run in the third and fourth quarters that put the game out of reach. “We’ll wake up tomorrow, and B.G. will still be in a Russian jail,” Nygaard said. Mercury players donned the “We are BG” shirts in pregame warm-ups, as did the Connecticut coaching staff and several Sun players. “It was like, ‘Dang, we did that, and now I got to go play basketball; my friend is still locked up overseas,’” Jones said. Fans chanted “We are B.G.” and “Bring her home.” They watched with tear-filled eyes as Griner fought through her own tears and pleaded with a Russian court not to “end her life” for an “honest mistake.” Griner was sentenced to nine years in a Russian penal colony and fined 1 million rubles, or about $16,000. So to see it happen to one of my teammates and be so close to it and understand that it could’ve been me, it puts it into perspective.” How are we even supposed to approach the game and approach the court with a clear mind when the whole group is crying before the game?” “It was like you’re waiting for a bomb to drop,” Mercury guard Diamond DeShields said. Griner has been detained in Russia since Feb. 17 after customs officials said they found hashish oil, a cannabis derivative, in Griner’s luggage at an airport near Moscow when she was traveling to the country to play for UMMC Yekaterinburg, a professional women’s basketball team. The most atypical moment of the night for Nygaard happened moments before tipoff, as the lights dimmed and players, coaches and referees locked arms in solidarity for 42 seconds — matching the number of Griner’s jersey.

After a Russian court sentenced WNBA star Brittney Griner to nine years in prison for a drug smuggling conviction on Thursday, the player's supporters, ...

During the trial, the lawyers argued that Griner's detention was handled improperly. The US State Department has classified Griner as wrongfully detained. In addition to her nine-year sentence, Griner must pay a fine of 1 million rubles, which is roughly $16,400. "I know everybody keeps talking about political pawn and politics, but I hope that that is far from this courtroom." Her lawyers had hoped that Griner's guilty plea and statements of remorse would result in a more lenient sentence. of cannabis oil in her luggage as she traveled through a Moscow airport on February 17.

The White House has urged Russia to accept its offer of a deal for the release of Griner and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan.

That means she truly is terrified that she may never see us again. You know, I share those same sentiments," Cherelle said. Blinken has said Washington put forward a "substantial proposal" for the exchange of Griner and Whelan. In a handwritten letter from Griner that was delivered to the White House last month, the WNBA player wrote how terrified she is that she may be imprisoned in Russia "forever." The White House has urged Russia to accept its offer of a deal for the release of Griner and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, who was sentenced to 16 years in prison on espionage charges. Russia said Friday it was "ready to discuss" a prisoner swap with Washington at the presidential level, a day after the drug conviction of U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner.

Brittney Griner, who was in Russia to play for a local team during the WNBA off-season, was detained over vape carriages containing cannabis oil in her ...

The weapons: Ukraine is making use of weapons such as Javelin antitank missiles and Switchblade “kamikaze” drones, provided by the United States and other allies. Russia has used an array of weapons against Ukraine, some of which have drawn the attention and concern of analysts. Russia appears set to resume ground offensives, with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu telling troops on Saturday to intensify attacks “in all operational sectors” of Ukraine.

After Griner received nine-year prison sentence on drug charges, Sergei Lavrov warns Russia won't tolerate 'megaphone diplomacy'

“These swaps will never happen if we start discussing any nuances of the exchange in the press,” he told reporters on Friday. “I know everybody keeps talking about ‘political pawn’ and ‘politics’, but I hope that is far from this courtroom,” Griner said in a closing statement on Thursday. But Lavrov also warned that Russia would not respond to “megaphone diplomacy”, demanding that any negotiations be carried out discreetly.

The U.S. has proposed exchanging Griner and Whelan for convicted Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout.

- Whelan was sentenced 16 years in prison in June 2020. Why it matters: Lavrov's comments come a day after a Russian court found Griner guilty on drug charges and sentenced her to nine years in prison. - Whelan, a 52-year-old corporate security executive, was arrested in Moscow in December 2018.

The W.N.B.A. star Brittney Griner's friends and colleagues expressed support and sadness for her after a Russian court found her guilty of attempting to ...

“It makes me sick that that was the decision,” Jackson said. Doing so will give you access to the work of over 1,700 journalists whose mission is to cover the world and make sure you have accurate and impartial information on the most important topics of the day. I’d like to thank you for reading The Times and encourage you to support journalism like this by becoming a subscriber. On Aug. 4, she was found guilty and sentenced to nine years in a penal colony. Dijonai Carrington of the Connecticut Sun tweeted “praying so hard for BG.” “Just really feeling sad and feeling sick for Brittney and hoping that she gets home as soon as possible,” said Breanna Stewart, a four-time W.N.B.A. All-Star who had played with Griner on the Russian team UMMC Yekaterinburg since 2020. Debbie Jackson, Griner’s high school basketball coach, held back tears after learning of Griner’s verdict. Her trial began on July 1 and the conviction had been widely expected. In February, Russian authorities detained Brittney Griner, an American basketball player, on drug charges, after she was stopped at an airport near Moscow. Since then, her detention has been repeatedly extended. Griner has been detained in Russia since Feb. 17, when Russian customs officials at an airport near Moscow said they found hashish oil in vape cartridges in her luggage. Ms. Griner’s trial began on July 1; she pleaded guilty. The W.N.B.A. star Brittney Griner’s friends and colleagues expressed support and sadness for her after a Russian court found her guilty of attempting to smuggle illegal narcotics into Russia and sentenced her to nine years in a penal colony.

Brittney Griner's fate could depend on a man imprisoned thousands of kilometres away — an international arms dealer dubbed the "Merchant of Death" who could ...

Why should we keep him in our jails and pay for the cost of that? "He provided sort of a one-stop shopping network. "And so the Russians have a lot of leverage here, they have a lot of power, they are going to want to milk this situation for everything they've got." "It might be useful to convince or persuade some faction in the Russian government to take the deal or to put someone in a corner in terms of the negotiation," Dr Gilbert said. Born in the former Soviet republic of Tajikistan, he speaks at least six languages and attended a military languages school known to be a "feeder" to Russian intelligence services. Two years later he was extradited to the US, where he was found guilty of conspiring to sell millions of dollars' worth of weapons to a terrorist organisation to be used to kill Americans in Columbia.

In pleading guilty to charges of illegal drug possession and smuggling, American basketball star Brittney Griner was bowing to the reality that, ...

In that sense, swapping Mr. Bout for Ms. Griner and Mr. Whelan is troubling because it implies equivalence between their bogus or exaggerated offenses and the Russian’s real ones. The risk is that if Ms. Griner and Mr. Whelan are essentially Mr. Putin’s hostages, which they are, then trading for them simply encourages him to engage in more hostage-taking. The practical question that remains is how to obtain freedom for wrongfully detained Americans at the minimum price, politically and ethically. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has publicly told Moscow the United States would be willing to negotiate for her release, an offer that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accepted Friday. In private, U.S. officials have floated a deal in which the Russians would send home Ms. Griner and another wrongfully detained American, Paul Whelan, in exchange for Viktor Bout, a Russian with ties to that country’s intelligence apparatus, who is doing time in federal prison and who trafficked weapons. But those deals have happened, too: In 2020, the Trump administration approved Oman’s release of nearly 300 Yemeni Houthi rebels in return for two Americans being held hostage by that Iranian-backed group. In pleading guilty to charges of illegal drug possession and smuggling, American basketball star Brittney Griner was bowing to the reality that, in Russian courts, victory for the prosecution is a foregone conclusion.

U.S. officials and analysts had been resigned to a guilty verdict for Ms. Griner, a basketball star who plays for a Russian team during the W.N.B.A. off-season.

But the cold reality of her sentence on a drug charge was a shock and renewed calls for Mr. Biden to secure her release — even as critics fumed that offering to swap prisoners with Moscow rewards Russian hostage-taking. And this just puts a target on the back of every American out there.” And former President Donald J. Trump, who when in office prided himself on freeing detained Americans abroad, slammed the proposed deal in crude terms. Her wife, Cherelle Griner, has made public pleas for Mr. Biden to cut a deal with Mr. Putin as soon as possible. The White House would not say how Mr. Biden might achieve that goal, however. It’s about simultaneously raising the pain for him.” He could seek new ways to make Mr. Putin suffer. “We think it’s important for their families to know how hard we’re working on this.” That was before Mr. Biden’s proposal to free Mr. Bout became public. On Aug. 4, she was found guilty and sentenced to nine years in a penal colony. On Friday, Mr. Lavrov told reporters that the two nations would continue discussing the issue through established channels. But it appeared to leave the Kremlin unmoved.

The basketball star is an innocent victim of the reactionary conflict between US imperialism and the Putin regime in Moscow.

The cruelty of the Putin regime towards Griner should not lead the working class in the United States or in any country to forget that American imperialism is the most powerful reactionary force on the planet and the most vicious. The Obama-Biden administration prosecuted more journalists than all previous US governments combined, sending Army Private Chelsea Manning to prison for seven years for leaking evidence of US atrocities in Iraq and Afghanistan to WikiLeaks. As for the circumstances in which prisoners are held, American prisons are notorious for violence, disease and death, as well as the widespread use of such torture methods as solitary confinement. Drug convictions account for by far the largest number of prisoners, many of them, like Griner, convicted on the basis of frame-ups and evidence concocted by the police. One of Griner’s teammates, guard Skylar Diggins-Smith, emphasized that the protest had nothing to do with politics (i.e., the war in Ukraine). “This is a human being and our real-life friend and real-life sister. There is widespread and entirely justified sympathy for Griner among her fellow athletes and among the American population as a whole. How are you supposed to approach the game with a clear mind, and the whole group is crying before the game? She had forgotten to remove two vials weighing a total of 0.7 grams from her luggage before leaving for Moscow and was arrested when they were detected at the airport. Griner was one of the top-paid WNBA players but made just over $200,000 a year. Griner was in possession of a tiny amount of cannabis oil, prescribed by her doctor for back pains caused by playing a professional sport at the highest level, year after year. The purpose of this action has, of course, nothing to do with drug trafficking. She had been playing in Russia regularly during the off-season of the Women’s National Basketball Association because WNBA salaries are so low compared to those paid in other US professional sports.

Brittney Griner was sentenced to nine years jail after cannabis oil was found in her bags.

It seems unlikely the administration would agree to a swap that didn't also include him. Griner is the most prominent American detained by a foreign country. On Monday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the Russian government had responded in a "bad faith" manner with an offer that U.S. officials did not regard as serious. And the formal end of the court case could be the opening both sides need to forge a diplomatic resolution, too. In many ways, yes — and a recent one too. That's what made Blinken's announcement from the State Department briefing room all the more striking.

The detained WNBA star Brittney Griner apologized and asked for leniency in an emotional speech to a Russian courtroom in her drug-smuggling trial Thursday ...

Blagovolina also told CNN her team's experts identified "a few defects" in the machines used to measure the substance. Those rights would include access to an attorney once she was detained and the right to know what she was suspected of. "To hear her words and her apologies. Boykov also argued Griner had no opportunity to properly examine the court documents. All this confirms the complete absence of intent in her actions, Blagovolina argued. "What Vladimir Putin is trying to do is basically drive up the bargaining price of Ms. Griner." Near the end of the tribute, spectators started chanting, "Bring her home! We are BG," the statement reads. He said the US is working to bring home Griner and Paul Whelan, an American citizen who has been held by Russia for alleged espionage since 2018. The defense team is hopeful that Griner will be able to talk to her family next week. Blagovolina added that Griner will return to the detention center where she is being held. Judge Anna Sotnikova of the Khimki city court delivered the sentence and fined Griner 1 million rubles, or about $16,400.

Griner, 31, admitted possessing cannabis oil but told the court she made an "honest mistake". But the court convicted her of smuggling and possessing narcotics, ...

"It's a serious proposal. When we saw Brittney on Tuesday, we told her, 'See you on Thursday'. She said, 'See you on doomsday'. So it looks like she was right." We urge them to accept it. Griner also said she had received neither an explanation of her rights nor access to a lawyer in the initial hours of her detention, and that she had to use a translation app on her phone to communicate. "She can hardly talk. She had come to Russia to play club basketball during the US off-season.

MOSCOW — A Russian court has found Brittney Griner guilty on drug smuggling and possession charges. The widely expected verdict comes after a monthlong ...

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Now that basketball star Brittney Griner has been convicted of drug possession and sentenced to nine years in prison, attention turns to the prospect of a ...

It seems unlikely the administration would agree to a swap that didn't also include him. Griner is the most prominent American detained by a foreign country. On Monday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the Russian government had responded in a “bad faith” manner with an offer that US officials did not regard as serious. And the formal end of the court case could be the opening both sides need to forge a diplomatic resolution, too. In many ways, yes – and a recent one too. That's what made Blinken's announcement from the State Department briefing room all the more striking.

US basketball star Brittney Griner was convicted this morning in Russia of drug possession and sentenced to nine years in prison following a politically ...

"I want to apologise to my teammates, my club, my fans and the city of [Yekaterinburg] for my mistake that I made and the embarrassment that I brought on them," Griner said, her voice cracking. They remained poker-faced, urging Washington to discuss the issue through "quiet diplomacy without releases of speculative information." "I remember vividly coming out of the gym and all the little girls that were in the stands there waiting on me, and that's what kept making me come back here." Another defense attorney, Alexander Boykov, emphasised Griner's role in taking her Yekaterinburg team to win multiple championships, noting that she was loved and admired by her teammates. The Lavrov-Blinken call marked the highest-level known contact between Washington and Moscow since Russia sent troops into Ukraine more than five months ago. Earlier in the session, with a conviction all but certain, an emotional Griner made a final appeal to the court for leniency.