American basketball star Brittney Griner's appeal date set on October 25 against nine-year prison sentence in Russia

Brittney Griner, WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury’s eight-time all-star center and two-time Olympic gold medalist, was arrested for alleged drug possession in Russia. Though Griner admitted to possessing canisters, she testified that she had packed them in a hurry heedlessly, without criminal intent. Her defense team said she had been advised cannabis for pain treatment through written statements.

Griner is one of the best basketball players and returned to Russia, where she played for the US league’s off-season. Griner’s lawyers argued that the nine-year sentence is quite excessive. In some similar cases, the accused have been sentenced to five years, with parole granted to a few.

White House Proposes Exchange

The pressure is increasing on the Biden administration to bring back Griner home. Antony Blinken, US Secretary of State, revealed that Washington had prosed a concrete proposal to bring back Griner and Paul Whelan, sentenced to sixteen years in Russia for espionage.




Washington has proposed to trade Griner and Whelan for Viktor Bout, a Russian arms seller, famously known as a merchant of death, who announced a 25-year sentence by the US.

The White House also said that they had not heard back from Russia. Russian diplomats have asked Washington to protect the confidentiality of the matter rather than giving public statements.

FAQs

1. Why was Brittney Griner arrested?
   She was arrested at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport on August 4 after police seized vape containers of cannabis oil from her baggage.
2. What did the US State Department say about Griner’s arrest?
   The US State Department said that Griner was wrongfully arrested; however, this claim was rejected by Russia.