A Moscow Court of Appeal upheld the nine-year prison sentence for the American basketball player Brittney Grinerfound guilty of drug possession after being arrested in February at a Moscow airport in possession of cannabis oil.
The US basketball star, who appeared in a video link in the courtroom of Krasnogorsk, near Moscow, had asked the Moscow court to reduce his “traumatic” prison sentence in Novoye Grishino prison.
Brittney Griner, the US basketball star who became a “political pawn” in spite of himself
by Rosalba Castelletti
Now he could soon begin serving his sentence in a Russian prison, unless the US authorities manage to negotiate a prisoner swap with Moscow. It is not clear, reports the New York Times in reporting the news, if further degrees of judgment are possible in the case of the US athlete or if his lawyers, Maria Blagovolina e Alexander Boykov, intend to pursue the path of further appeals. “Not a single prosecutor, judge, attorney or law student could prove that this ruling is in line with Russian law,” said the lawyer, quoted by the Moskovsky Komsomoltetz newspaper website.
Brittney Griner, star of American basketball twice Olympic champion, has been in prison in Russia since she was arrested on her arrival at Moscow’s Sheremetevo airport last February after police found liquid electronic cigarettes containing oil in her luggage. hashish. The quantity, as specified today by her lawyer in the courtroom, was 0.72 grams.
The basketball player Griner, the marine and the former spies: the prisoners the USA and Russia deal with
by Paolo Mastrolilli
At the first trial, Griner pleaded guilty to drug trafficking, adding that she had no intention of “violating Russian law.” It is widely believed, however, that the 31-year-old athlete can be used by the Russian authorities as a pawn for an exchange of prisoners with the US.
Brittney Griner, Phoenix Mercury’s top player, had arrived in Russia to play in the Russian league in the ranks of a team from Yekaterinburg during the break in the American WNBA championship.