Brittney Griner’s Wife Says They’ve Had 2 Phone Calls Since Arrest

Brittney Griner, 31, was stopped on drug charges at an airport near Moscow: Customs officials accused her of carrying vape cartridges with hashish oil in her luggage. She was returning to Russia to play for UMMC Yekaterinburg, a powerhouse professional women’s basketball team.

In August, a Russian court sentenced her to nine years in prison.

Her detention arrived at a delicate geopolitical moment near the beginning of Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine amid Russia’s strained diplomatic relationship with the United States. In May, the State Department determined that she had been wrongfully detained.

In June, the Biden administration offered to release the Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout in exchange for Griner and Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine who was convicted in Russia of espionage charges.

“He’s doing what he can,” Cherelle Griner said of President Biden. “But there’s another party in this situation, and we also are dealing with the need for Russia to have mercy on B.G. as well.”

An appeal hearing for Brittney Griner is set for Oct. 25.

“Once that hearing is held, and the order is finalized, B.G.’s now in the position where she could be moved to a labor camp,” Cherelle Griner said. “My brain can’t even fathom it.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/06/world/europe/brittney-griner-russia-detention.html