Russian court hits WNBA star hard, Nine Years and Huge Fine for Brittney Griner

By Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer

#USA, August 5, 2022 – American Basketball star Brittney Griner has been sentenced to 9 ½ years in a Russian prison after being found guilty in her drug trial.

Live video of the trial allowed the world to see Griner as she sat alone separated from her team by bars.   As an unseen Court worker reads in rapid fire Russian, the basketball star and her translator lean their heads against the bars in an effort to get her to understand as her fate is decided in a language she cannot understand.  When the verdict was read, Griner simply lowered herself to her chair ignoring calls from reporters as they were ushered out.

After the verdict a representative of the US embassy told the press, “Ms. Griner was sentenced to 9 years in prison for nothing more than an unintentional oversight.  This is a miscarriage of justice.  The US Department of state has determined that Ms. Griner is wrongfully detained, nothing in today’s verdict changes that decision.  The entire US government remains committed to bringing Ms. Griner home safely to her family and loved ones.”

The prosecution in her case had pushed for the heavy sentence even after months of detainment and public outcry from U.S. citizens.

It was almost a guarantee that she would be found guilty, as Griner plead guilty to the charges.  What was up in the air was how long she would  be sentenced for, her team had said if she was not acquitted, she should get the lightest sentence possible as her testimony showed an absolute lack of intent to break Russian laws.

Russia is yet to announce whether they will participate in a proposed prisoner swap between Griner and another US citizen Paul Whelan in exchange for the ‘Merchant of Death’ Viktor Bout, a convicted Russian arms dealer.

Though Griner plead guilty, her lawyers had argued that exhausted from a long flight and only just recovering from COVID, she packed in a rush not realizing that the prescription marijuana cartridges which she only ever used in Arizona where they were legal had made their way into her luggage.

Additionally, they tried to present her to the court as the upstanding role model that she is.

“In sprinting there is Usain Bolt, in Formula 1 Michael Schumacher, and in women’s basketball there is Brittney Griner,” is what her lawyer told the court according to Reuters.

The court also heard testimony from members of her team in Russia and the doctor who prescribed the marijuana.

Griner will serve her time in a high security facility and pay a nearly US$17,000 fine.  Though there is still hope of a prisoner exchange, unfortunately the US says Russia has been dragging its feet.

The basketballer’s fate rests now with the Kremlin.