The trial of American basketball star Brittney Griner is resumed in a Russian court. The athlete is accused of drug trafficking and she faces up to 10 years in prison. Griner testified Wednesday with an interpreter that she translated only a fraction of what was said during her interrogation.
Griner was arrested at a Moscow airport in February, admitted in court earlier this month that she had vaporizers containing cannabis oil when she arrived in Russia, but claims they inadvertently ended up in her luggage.
The Phoenix Mercury star said he took a grueling 13-hour flight to Moscow while recovering from Covid-19. She recalled being pulled aside after the containers were found, explaining that she was ordered to sign documents without receiving an explanation of what they implied.
“I had no intention of bringing drugs to Russia,” said the athlete during the trial.
“I hadn’t thought or planned to bring banned substances to Russia,” said Griner, who arrived in court in handcuffs. The player reconstructed the day of her arrest on February 17, explaining that when she was stopped at Sheremetyevo airport she was asked to sign several documents without any explanation and without a lawyer present.
She was then taken to another room where her phone was seized and made to sign other documents. The champion explained that all the cards were in Russian and she was forced to use Google translate without being able to understand exactly what she was signing.