A spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry hit at the US for its determination that basketball star Brittney Griner has been wrongfully detained in the country on drug charges.
Ms Griner, a 31-year-old native of Houston, Texas, who has won NCAA and WNBA championships and Olympic gold medals in her glittering athletic career, was arrested at an airport outside of Moscow in February for carrying hash oil in her luggage. Her arrest happened shortly before Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine.
She has been incarcerated ever since, as the US and Russia’s relationship has further deteriorated over Russia’s actions in Ukraine. In early May, the US State Department determined that Ms Griner has been wrongfully detained and moved supervision of her case to the purview of the special presidential envoy for hostage affairs — a position that troubled Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
“If a U.S. citizen was taken in connection with the fact that she was smuggling drugs, and she does not deny this, then this should be commensurate with our Russian, local laws, and not with those adopted in San Francisco, New York and Washington,” Ms Zakharova said this week.
Ms Zakharova also expressed alarm that the liberalization of marijuana laws in numerous US states will have disasterous consequences for the country as a whole, despite the fact that many medical professionals believe that marijuana is safer to use than alcohol.
“You understand, if drugs are legalised in the United States, in a number of states, and this is done for a long time, and now the whole country will become drug-addicted, this does not mean that all other countries are following the same path,” she added.
Ms Griner has pleaded guilty to the charge of carrying hash oil, but has maintained that she did not intend to break Russian law. Her trial, which began on July 1, is expected to resume next week. According to legal experts, Ms Griner’s guilty plea was a formality given that roughly 99 percent of charges in Russia result in convictions. A court has already authorised Ms Griner’s detention up to December 20.
Ms Griner is facing a sentence of up to ten years in prison on the charges she is facing, but there has been speculation in Russia that she may be released to US custody in a prisoner exchange with arms trafficker Victor Bout. Bout is serving a 25-year sentence in the US for conspiracy to smuggle weapons to Colombian rebels who allegedly intended to us them against US personnel.
The Biden administration has faced mounting pressure to secure Ms Griner’s release as many of her family members, friends, and colleagues worry about her safety and well-being in a country that is notorious for its anti-LGBTQ+ policies and racism.
Ms Griner’s wife Cherelle has been critical of the administration’s response to her wife’s incarceration, and said several weeks ago that it was “disheartening” that she had not yet heard from the president himeslf.
