Brittney Griner

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.

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.

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.

Phoenix Mercury star Brittney Griner was found guilty on drug charges by a Russian court Thursday and sentenced to nine years in prison.

- "While we knew it was never the legal process that was going to bring our friend home, today's verdict is a sobering milestone in the 168-day nightmare being endured by our sister, BG," the Mercury said in apress statement. - In apress statement, President Biden called for Griner's immediate release and said, "Today, American citizen Brittney Griner received a prison sentence that is one more reminder of what the world already knew: Russia is wrongfully detaining Brittney." - Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last month that the U.S. had offered Russiaa "substantial proposal" to bring home Griner and Whelan. - Rep. Greg Stanton (D)wrote on Twitter, "This trial was a sham from the very beginning—and today's excessive, unjust sentence makes it clearer than ever that Brittney Griner is being held by Russia for purely political purposes." What else they're saying: Rep. Ruben Gallego (D) tweeted that Griner's conviction was "as unsurprising as it was unjust," and said, "It's clear that Russia sees Ms. Griner as a political pawn in their war in Ukraine." Several elected officials from Arizona expressed similar sentiments, with Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly saying in a statement to Axios Phoenix, "This sentence is completely unjust and again demonstrates how Russia has wrongfully detained Brittney Griner. I've worked with my colleagues to build support for her release, and am going to ensure that her safe return remains a top priority for the administration."

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

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.

There are Americans who've been wrongfully detained or held hostage overseas for as much as a decade, and many for five years or more. It's not that the two ...

But the other dozens of hostages and wrongful detainees are not household names, and had not gotten the kind of attention that Brittney Griner’s case has now brought to all of these other cases — and the unjust treatment that American citizens are currently facing abroad. In the interview, Mickey talks about what went down in a prisoner swap negotiation with an American who was imprisoned in Iran. When a US citizen receives this designation, it means that the US government is committed to intervening on their behalf. The 2015 Iran deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which was the Obama administration’s deal to lift sanctions on Iran in exchange for limits on their nuclear program, also included a prisoner swap. The fact that they have telegraphed that they want prisoners exchanged for her and Paul Whelan’s release, indicates to me that this is a hostage taking, which is when someone holds a prisoner with the threat to continue holding that person until certain conditions are met. Brittney Griner was designated as wrongfully detained in May, and “wrongfully detained” is an official State Department designation, which means that the secretary of state has looked at her case and has determined that there’s something illegitimate about her arrest and her trial. There’s also a domestic political risk, which is that there can be real divisions among the American public about what kinds of victims deserve government assistance. But they are thinking about all of the different foreign policy interests they have, and how to get the best bargain that they can. There’s also a long-term problem with making prisoner swaps or concessions, which is the fear or the risk that it incentivizes future arrests, just like this one. The US State Department has been attempting to negotiate for her release, possibly through a prisoner swap, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the sentencing “further compounds the injustice of her wrongful detention.” So anytime that there’s one of these prisoner swaps, it’s with a US adversary,” Gilbert said. It’s not that the two sides are sitting down across the table from each other every day and finding it impossible to negotiate.

WNBA star Brittney Griner was sentenced to nine years in a Russian penal colony and fined by a Russian court on Thursday on charges of smuggling drugs with ...

The Associated Press reported Friday the Kremlin said it’s open to talking about a possible prisoner exchange involving Griner. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison, but maintains his innocence. ... We must exhaust every option to bring Brittney and Paul Whelan home.” The Mercury star was arrested at an airport near Moscow in February and accused of having hashish oil in her luggage. I truly believe we need to do whatever is necessary to bring our American citizens home. “We knew it was going to happen that way, so I wasn’t heartbroken … I do believe people are working on her behalf to bring her home.

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.

Now that Brittney Griner has been convicted of drug possession and sentenced to nine years in a Russian prison, could a prisoner swap bring her home?

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. At the time of his conviction, the group was classified by the U.S. as a foreign terrorist organization, though that designation was lifted last year. Griner is the most prominent American detained by a foreign country. It’s hard to say, but the contact between Blinken and Lavrov does suggest more progress than has been made before. 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. She said getting a deal done for Griner and Whelan, a Michigan corporate security executive imprisoned on an espionage conviction he and his family says is baseless, may be difficult but it is “urgent” and the “right thing to do.” The U.S. government also regards Whelan as wrongfully convicted. He has adamantly maintained his innocence. Blinken did not provide details after his call with Lavrov about his response. Minimal, at least in public. Secretary of State Antony Blinken went public with that possibility last week, revealing in an unusual announcement that the U.S. had made a “substantial proposal” aimed at securing the release of Griner and another jailed American, Paul Whelan.

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.

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.

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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A Russian court on Thursday found the American basketball star Brittney Griner guilty of an attempt to smuggle illegal narcotics into Russia and sentenced her ...

“That hard work that my parents instilled in me is what had brought me to play for the best Russian team,” she said. Her legal team has appealed for leniency in the case, arguing that she has contributed to Russian society and that she did not intend to break the law. Brittney Griner became a star at Baylor University, where she dominated through a combination of size and fluidity largely unseen in women’s basketball to that point. - Trevor R. Reed— an ailing former U.S. Marine held for two years in Russia on what appear to be bogus charges of assault — was released in April in a prisoner swap involving a Russian pilot convicted of cocaine trafficking charges. Now, he is probably the highest-profile Russian in U.S. custody and the prisoner Russia has campaigned the most vociferously to have returned. She added that a prisoner swap “is critically important to B.G., to her family, to our country. Today’s sentencing of Brittney Griner was severe by Russian legal standards and goes to prove what we have known all along, that Brittney is being used as a political pawn. “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. “We are steadfastly committed to keeping her top-of-mind publicly until she is safely back on American soil,” the statement added. A Russian judge on Thursday sentenced the American basketball star Brittney Griner to nine years in a penal colony after finding her guilty of bringing illegal drugs into Russia, according to her lawyers. “It makes me sick that that was the decision,” Jackson said. “There is constant control and a culture of snitching.”

Russian prosecutors have asked a court to sentence Brittney Griner to 9½ years in prison during closing arguments in her cannabis possession trial.

They remained poker-faced, urging Washington to discuss the issue through "quiet diplomacy without releases of speculative information." "I want to apologize 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. Any sentence is considered a formality by experts, as the length of her detainment will be determined by negotiations on a prisoner swap between the United States and Russia. They have presented character witnesses from the Yekaterinburg team and written testimony from a doctor who said he prescribed her cannabis for pain treatment. Boykov also emphasized Griner's role in helping Yekaterinburg 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.

Griner's conviction comes nearly six months after she was arrested at a Moscow airport in February.

The U.S. Department of state has determined that Ms. Griner was wrongfully detained. And we urge the Russians, again, to seriously consider that proposal, to act on it, and let's get these two Americans home where they belong," National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told MSNBC. - Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last month that the U.S. had offered Russiaa "substantial proposal"to bring Griner and American businessman Paul Whelanhome. - "This is a miscarriage of justice. The big picture: Griner pleaded guilty to the charges last month but maintained that there was "no intent" to break the law by bringing the vape cartridges into Russia. WNBA star Brittney Griner was found guilty on drug charges by a Russian court and sentenced to nine years in prison on Thursday, concluding a trial that has captured national attention and reached the highest levels of U.S. diplomacy.

Griner had told the court she had no intention to break the law by bringing vape cartridges with cannabis oil when she flew to Moscow in February.

Russian media have speculated repeatedly that Griner could be swapped for Bout, nicknamed “the Merchant of Death,” who is serving a 25-year sentence in the U.S. after being convicted of conspiracy to kill U.S. citizens and providing aid to a terrorist organization. … It is our hope that we are near the end of this process of finally bringing BG home to the United States.” On July 27, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington has offered a deal to Russia aimed at bringing home Griner and Whelan in a sharp reversal of previous policy. She was the No. 1 pick by Phoenix in the 2013 draft. Griner testified she was aware cannabis oil was outlawed in Russia and had not intended to break the law or “plan to smuggle anything into Russia.” The U.S. State Department had earlier declared Griner to be “wrongfully detained” — a charge that Russia has sharply rejected. A team that has nothing to do with politics or global conflict.” She also said she was not informed of her rights. When she took the stand July 7, Griner said: “I would like to plead guilty on the charges against me. She led the league in scoring twice. Under Russian law, Griner has 10 days to appeal, and her lawyers say they expect a hearing in Moscow regional court next week. Most Russians possessing small quantities of drugs get at most five years in prison, lawyers said.