US basketball star Griner set to testify at Russian trial

27.07.2022 - 15:29 channelnewsasia.com

KHIMKI, Russia : U.S. basketball player Brittney Griner, on trial in Russia on drug charges, arrived in court on Wednesday to testify in a case that could see her face up to 10 years in prison.

The 31-year-old, a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) star who has played in Russia during the league's offseason, was detained at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport in Feb.

17 with vape cartridges containing hashish oil in her luggauge.At the sixth hearing into her case, Griner was escorted into a courtroom by police, bending down to avoid banging her head against the doorway.

Wearing a long-sleeved T-shirt from her WNBA team, the Phoenix Mercury, Griner held up personal photographs and shook her lawyers' hands through the bars of the defendant's cage before taking a seat.

basketball athletics Phoenix Mercury Brittney Griner Russia Ukraine Usa Moscow

MOSCOW: Lawyers for American basketball star Brittney Griner on Monday filed an appeal against her nine-year Russian prison sentence for drug possession, Russian news agencies reported Monday. Griner, a center for the Phoenix Mercury and a two-time Olympic gold medalist, was convicted on Aug. 4.

Lawyers for U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner appeal Russian prison sentence

Lawyers for American basketball star Brittney Griner on Monday filed an appeal against her nine-year Russian prison sentence for drug possession, Russian news agencies reported Monday.

Russia, US In Talks Over 'Merchant Of Death' For Jailed Basketball Star: Moscow

The US and Russia are discussing a prisoner exchange that would involve trading a notorious Russian arms trafficker for an American basketball star, a Russian diplomat said on Saturday. It marked the first time that Russia said that the talks concerned exchanging Viktor Bout, known as the "Merchant of Death," for two-time Olympian Brittney Griner. "The discussions on the very sensitive topic of an exchange are proceeding via the channels chosen by our presidents," Alexander Datchiev, the head the North America department at the Russian foreign ministry, was quoted as saying by the state news agency TASS.

Brittney Griner verdict: Basketball world, politicians react to sentencing

WNBA All-Star Brittney Griner was convicted and sentenced to nine years in prison for drug possession and smuggling Thursday. Here are reactions from around the basketball and political realms:

Russian court jails US basketball star for nine years over drug smuggling

KHIMKI, Russia: A Russian court on Thursday sentenced US basketball star Brittney Griner to nine years in prison over drug smuggling as US President Joe Biden called the ruling “unacceptable.” The court “found the defendant guilty” of smuggling and possessing “a significant amount of narcotics,” judge Anna Sotnikova told a court in the town of Khimki just outside Moscow. Sotnikova sentenced Griner, 31, to nine years in prison and said she would also have to pay a fine of one million rubles ($16,590). US President Joe Biden immediately released a statement, calling the Russian court’s sentencing of Griner “unacceptable.” “Russia is wrongfully detaining Brittney.

Reactions after US basketball star Griner sentenced in Russia

Following are reactions after U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner was sentenced in a Russian court on Thursday to nine years in prison for illegally bringing hashish-infused vape cartridges into the country. She had admitted having the cartridges but called it an honest mistake.