ROME. The US basketball star is in prison for another month in Moscow. The detention of a US athlete in the Russian capital amidst official protests by the State Department and bumpy judicial paths is now an international affair. At least one month still in prison, awaiting trial. Brittney Griner, the American women’s basketball star arrested at the Moscow airport on February 17 while returning to Russia to play for a few weeks with the UMMC of Yekaterinburg, appeared before the court which was to decide on her detention pending the real trial. own.
Decision
The judge ruled that the player will have to remain under arrest for another month, less than her lawyer Alexander Boikov expected, according to what she told the Associated Press. Griner was stopped in February during a baggage check upon her arrival at Moscow airport. In her suitcase, she had some vaporizing cartridges that contained cannabis-based oil: a crime, in Russia, punishable up to ten years in prison. The State Department said the player was being detained unfairly, and immediately put pressure on Moscow to return her to the US. But, after relations between the two countries have become critical to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the handling of this case is much more delicate.
Conditions
For the moment, Griner’s conditions have been defined as good, despite having been detained for three months: this was stated by officials of the American embassy who were allowed to visit her in prison, and sources of the sports broadcaster Espn, who saw her during the hearing. The whole world of American basketball has mobilized. Breanna Stewart, another female NBA star tweeted yesterday: “Our friend Brittney Griner has been unfairly detained in Russia for 84 days. It’s time for you to go home. White House, we are following the story and we are counting on you ». The 2022 season of the American women’s league WNBA has just started: a logo in honor of Griner will be present on every field until the story is over.