Brittney Griner drug trial begins in Russia as US protests detention

Mike Brest

July 01, 10:30 AM July 01, 10:30 AM

WNBA superstar Brittney Griner appeared in Russian court on Friday as she faces a 10-year prison sentence on drug charges while the U.S. State Department maintains she is wrongfully detained.

Griner, 31, has been detained in Russia since the middle of February, which is when she was arrested at Sheremetyevo International Airport near Moscow for allegedly possessing vaping cartridges that contained cannabis oil. Her detainment, which has now exceeded four months, has gotten more attention in recent weeks as advocates decided to be more vocal in their demands for the Biden administration to exhaust all avenues to ensure her return.

The Phoenix Mercury center wore a Jimi Hendrix T-shirt in court and spent the hearing in a cage in the courtroom with a bottle of water and a bag of cookies, according to the Washington Post. Griner said she understood the charges against her, but did not enter a plea. The judge said the trial would resume next Thursday.

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“According to the expert’s conclusion, the detected substance is cannabis oil, which is subject to control on the territory of the Russian Federation and is classified as a narcotic drug,” the prosecutor told the court, according to Russian BFM Radio.

Deputy Chief of Mission Elizabeth Rood was in attendance for the first day of the trial, and she was able to speak with Griner during the hearing. The professional basketball player “is doing as well as can be expected in these difficult circumstances and she asked me to convey that she is in good spirits,” Rood said.

Cherelle Griner, Brittney's wife, has been critical of the Biden administration's attempts to secure her freedom, telling CNN on the eve of the trial, "It's really, really difficult. This is not a situation where the rhetoric is matching the action." Griner also said, "I do have to, unfortunately, push people to make sure that the things they're telling me is also matching their actions, and so it's been the hardest thing to balance because I can't let up. It's over 130 days, and BG's still not back."

Brittney Griner's detention coincides with Russia's war in Ukraine and the subsequent downturn of the diplomatic relationship between the United States and Russia, complicating efforts to rescue her. The war itself has not made it impossible, however, as President Joe Biden agreed to a prisoner exchange earlier this spring to secure Trevor Reed's release from Russia, who had been wrongfully detained for about three years.

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Paul Whelan, another American, is also wrongfully detained in Russia, and he was sentenced to 16 years in prison after being found guilty of being a spy despite his denials. Both he and Griner have been mentioned in possible prisoner swaps for arms trafficker Viktor Bout, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison after being convicted of agreeing to sell heavy weapons to a Colombian terrorist organization.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken was asked about a possible swap last weekend in a television interview. He dodged the question, saying: "I’ve got no higher priority than making sure that Americans who are being illegally detained in one way or another around the world come home, and that includes Paul Whelan, and that includes Brittney Griner. That includes people in a number of other countries."