Russian court upholds Brittney Griner’s drug smuggling conviction

CNN
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A judge in Russia has left Brittney Griner’s verdict in place, upholding on Tuesday the US basketball star’s conviction on drug smuggling charges and reducing only slightly her nine-year prison sentence.

Griner’s sentence will be modified to count the time she spent in pre-trial detention after her February 17 arrest at a Moscow airport, the judge ruled, with each day in pre-trial custody counting as 1.5 days toward her prison sentence. It was not immediately clear by exactly how much that would reduce the sentence.

The decision came after an appeal hearing Tuesday at which Griner again apologized as she and her attorneys asked the court for a more lenient sentence, arguing the verdict was unfair and unjustified under Russian law. The attorneys urged the court to acquit her, calling her sentence disproportionate and the previous court ruling wrong in saying Griner had criminal intent.

“I’ve been here almost eight months, and people with more severe crimes have been given less than what I was given,” Griner said Tuesday, appearing at the hearing via video link from her detention center, Correctional Colony No. 1 in Novoye Grishino, north of Moscow.

The decision means the “legal process (is) basically over,” defense attorney Alexander Boykov, of the Moscow Legal Center, told CNN in anticipation of the result.

Griner, a two-time US Olympic gold medalist, had been concerned she would have to serve out the remainder of her sentence in Russia if her appeal was unsuccessful and if the United States and Russia can’t strike a deal for a prisoner swap, he said.

The US State Department has maintained Griner is wrongfully detained, and her case has prompted concern that she is being used as a political pawn amid the backdrop of Russia’s war against Ukraine. The Biden administration recently communicated with Russia to try to secure the release of Griner and imprisoned American Paul Whelan, a senior administration official told CNN last week.

Griner was initially taken into custody days before the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – when authorities accused her of trying to smuggle less than a gram of cannabis oil in her luggage. Griner plays in Russia during the WNBA’s offseason.

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The All-Star center for the Phoenix Mercury pleaded guilty to drug charges, telling the court during her trial that vape cartridges containing the cannabis oil were in her luggage because she had packed her bags in a hurry.

In court Tuesday, defense attorney Maria Blagovolina cast doubt on the Russian examination of Griner’s alleged drug use, calling the results of that examination “doubtful and unconfirmed.” “Continuous narcotic substance use is incompatible with a career as a professional athlete,” added Blagovolina, a partner at Rybalkin, Gortsunyan, Dyakin and Partners law firm.

“No lawyer will be able to say in all honesty that this verdict is in line with Russian judicial practice,” Boykov said.

Both attorneys previously indicated they felt Griner’s nine-year sentence was extreme, with Blagovolina calling it “very severe for this type of crime and this amount of this substance.”

Ahead of the hearing, Blagovolina and Boykov called Griner a “strong person” with a “champion’s character” who was nevertheless “severely stressed being separated from her loved ones for over eight months.”

The court hearing the appeal could have left Griner’s verdict in place, overruled it and sent it back to the lower court, or reduced her prison term, her lawyers said.

“She is very nervous waiting for the appeal hearing,” they added in a written statement to CNN. “Brittney does not expect any miracles to happen but hopes that the appeal court will hear the arguments of the defense and reduce the term.”

While Griner’s case plays out, US officials have separately proposed a potential prisoner swap with Russia, offering to exchange convicted Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout for Griner and Whelan, an American citizen who’s been held by Russia for alleged espionage since 2018. Whelan, who has consistently denied the charges, was convicted and sentenced in June 2020 to 16 years in prison.

Despite the “pretty persistent” pace of discussions between the US and Russia to secure the Americans’ release, the official said the Biden administration has yet to receive a serious counteroffer from the Russian side.

“They’re not nonresponsive. I would say that they continue to respond with something that they know not to be feasible or available,” the official said of the Russian response.

Former Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico – whose namesake center works on behalf of families of hostages and detainees, and who recently traveled to Russia to discuss the possible release of Griner and Whelan – recently said he was “cautiously optimistic” the two Americans could be released.

Richardson, who also served as US ambassador to the United Nations under President Bill Clinton, said he’s working with both their families and coordinating with the White House to work toward their releases. The former governor played a role in the release of Trevor Reed, an American veteran detained in Russia for three years before his release in April.

Meanwhile, Griner’s wife Cherelle and their supporters have continued to highlight her case and maintain support and pressure to ensure she’s brought home, starting a #WeAreBG campaign on social media. After months of pushing, Cherelle Griner met last month with Biden, telling CNN the meeting illustrated the administration’s commitment to bringing her wife home.

“It wasn’t a meeting where the President told me the news that I want to hear,” Cherelle Griner said. “It wasn’t that, but it was one of those still pivotal meetings where … it allowed me to have confidence in what he’s doing right now.”

As for Griner, she turned 32 last week, celebrating her birthday in a cell in the suburbs of Moscow, her attorneys told CNN. They spent a few hours with her in an effort to “cheer her up” as much as they could, relaying birthday messages from around the world.

“Thank you everyone for fighting so hard to get me home,” Griner said in a message shared by her attorneys. “All the support and love are definitely helping me.”