On Thursday, a court in Russia handed American basketball star Brittney Griner a nine-year sentence for possessing two vape cartridges containing cannabis (marijuana) oil in her luggage at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport.
The 31-year-old, a centre for WNBA (Women’s National Basketball Association) league side Phoenix Mercury, was detained by customs officials for carrying the illegal substance on February 17 after she landed in Russia to play for UMMC Ekaterinburg in the off-season. The trial started in early July and the conviction was largely expected, more so after Griner pleaded guilty to the charge by admitting that she had made an “honest mistake” but did not “conspire or plan to commit this crime”.
But it is the severity of punishment — nearly a decade in a penal colony, a remote settlement away from the populace amid harsh surroundings — that has sent shock waves. Coming as it does against the backdrop of the Russia-Ukraine war, in which the U.S. has backed Ukraine, it is a dispute with a rather deep political hue.
