Russian Court Rejects Brittney Griner's Appeal
October 25, 2022A court in Moscow rejected Brittney Griner's appeal of her nine-year sentence for drug charges Tuesday.
US officials believe Russia will eventually send the WNBA star home in a prisoner swap but have expressed frustration with Russia's failure to respond to the “significant” offer the United States made in June.
“We are aware of the news out of Russia that Brittney Griner will continue to be wrongfully detained under intolerable circumstances after having to undergo another sham judicial proceeding today,” Jake Sullivan, US national security adviser, said in a statement.
Griner took part in the Moscow Regional Court hearing via videoconference.
According to ESPN, the court stated that the time Griner will have to serve in prison will be recalculated with her time in pretrial detention taken into account, meaning Griner will serve about eight years in prison.
Griner's attorneys said the result was not what they expected. “The verdict contains numerous defects and we hoped that the court of appeal would take them into consideration. We still think the punishment is excessive and contradicts to the existing court practice.”
“This appeal is further verification that BG is not just wrongfully detained,” the WNBA Players Association said in a statement. “She is very clearly a hostage.”
Officials have said that they believe Russia will not engage seriously in negotiations until after the US midterm elections in November, not wanting to give the Biden administration a political victory.
Griner, who has been held for more than eight months, is concerned about how quickly she will be transferred to one of Russia's notorious penal colonies. She was sentenced to serve out her term in one but has remained in a relatively safer Moscow jail during appeal.
Blagovolina told ESPN last week that it can take weeks or months for a prisoner to be transferred; there is no timetable prescribed by law. Legal experts say Griner is at the whim and mercy of the Russian system, as she has been all along.
Griner was arrested in February while trying to enter Russia to join her club team in Ekaterinburg. Customs officials found vape cartridges containing hashish oil and she pleaded guilty in July, telling the court she had packed them inadvertently.
US officials declared her to be wrongfully detained in May and began seeking a prisoner swap with Russia for Griner and former US Marine Paul Whelan, who has been held in Russia since December 2018.
Officials said the State Department offered to trade Viktor Bout, a convicted arms dealer in custody since 2008 and serving a 25-year sentence in the United States. Officials have said Russia has not made a serious counteroffer and has requested the return of a man the United States doesn't have in custody, Vadim Krasikov, who is currently in a German prison on a murder conviction.
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