Brittney Griner’s nightmare and her new year sentence

The Russian court sentenced nine years in prison to the American basketball player

Brittney Griner
almost the maximum penalty for drug possession and trafficking in this country, after being found guilty of introducing cannabis oil cartridgesan “unacceptable” sentence for the president of the United States, Joe Biden, who asked for his immediate release.

“I love my family”was the only thing Griner managed to say to the press after hearing the ruling and leaving the court in the city of Khimki, in the Moscow region.

The image of a resigned Griner, boxed in a cell with metal bars in which she had to bend down due to her height (2.06 meters), was the best reflection of the entire judicial process.

The athlete, world and Olympic champion, has been victim of the geopolitical tension between Russia and the US. He arrived in Moscow on February 17, a week before the start of the Russian “special military operation” in Ukraine, and almost six months later he becomes collateral damage in the conflict.

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The prosecution requested 9.5 years in prison for the athletesince he considered that his guilt was “fully proven”, while the defense requested his acquittal or, failing that, the least possible sentence.

The judge, Anna Sotnikovatook the side of the accusation and, although he recognized as “mitigating” the exercise of contrition and the sporting achievements of the accusedendorsed him nine years.

According to the sentence, Griner is guilty of “possession and illegal introduction of narcotics through customs”as stipulated in articles 228 and 229.1 of the Russian penal code (possession and trafficking of drugs).

His lawyers, who this week questioned as evidence the cannabis samples taken by the Russian police after his arrest for lack of formality, announced that they will appeal the ruling.

Griner, who was arrested last February at a Moscow airport with cannabis oil cartridges in her suitcase, he said he understood the ruling and hardly showed any emotiondespite its severity.

Previously, the condemned woman had asked for mercy today by admitting her “error”, something she had already done before, when she argued as an excuse the haste with which he packed his bags to travel from New York to Moscow.

The player, who admitted knowing that cannabis is prohibited in Russia, assured in her favor that she consumes it as pain reliever to relieve pain in your kneesbut never during the competition.

“I made an unintentional mistake and I hope the mistake doesn’t ruin my life,” he said.

To no avail, Griner left the building in a van, after which, theoretically, she will have to serve her sentence in a women’s penitentiary.

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As soon as the error is known, Biden demanded that Russia release “immediately” to the basketball player, who at the time addressed the president by letter so as not to rot in a Russian prison.

“This is unacceptable and I call on Russia to immediately release her so that she can be with her wife, her loved ones, her friends and her teammates,” Trump said in a statement. statement distributed by the White House.

The sentence shows, in Biden’s opinion, what everyone “already knows”, that is, that is wrongfully detained in Russia.

Biden promised that his government will continue to work “without rest” and “seeking all possible avenues” so that Griner and former Marine Paul Whelan, sentenced to 16 years in prison for espionage in Russia, “go home and be safe as soon as possible”.

The president has been widely criticized for his handling of the cases of prisoners held by Russia.

EFE