The future darkens a hell of a blow for Brittney Griner. Currently on trial in Khimki – not far from Moscow – in Russia for having attempted to embark for the United States with an electronic cigarette liquid containing cannabis, the prosecutor in charge of the case requested this followingnoon nine years and half of prison for the American player, accompanied by a fine of one million rubles (approximately 16,000 dollars). The verdict is expected in the coming days, in a case that has taken a geopolitical turn between Russia and the United States.
Difficult business than that of Brittney Griner. Arrested in possession of cannabis oil last February, the women’s basketball superstar has not left Russian territory since. Detained pending trial, she now knows her sentence.
Nine and a half years in prison, a million rubles.
It’s very simple: in Russia, the maximum sentence for the offense of possession of narcotics is ten years. With this sentence requested by the prosecutor of the Khimki court, Nikolai Vlassenko, Griner might therefore be sentenced to a substantial period of imprisonment. As a reminder, the player had arrested the American authorities in recent months, imploring them to find a way to be extradited to the United States. For now, no request from his country has been accepted by Moscow.
#BREAKING Russian prosecutors seek 9.5 years jail for US basketball star Griner pic.twitter.com/XGG1RlcUGC
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) August 4, 2022
There are reasons for this. We explained it to you in a file published last May, but the world geopolitical events absolutely do not go in the direction of “cordial” negotiations between Russia and the United States. If several public positions taken by Joe Biden’s government have hinted that he was on the spot, nothing more filters through on possible negotiations.
The world of the WNBA has mobilized, but the stakes go beyond the simple framework of a lawsuit and basketball. As a reminder, she pleaded guilty to having possessed cannabis but refutes any allegation of drug trafficking. The prosecutor made her request in court, explaining that she had “deliberately” tried to hide the substance from customs officials, a choice of word that will undoubtedly weigh heavily in the balance of the judges responsible for deciding on the final sentence that will be served. Grind. Now is the time to wait, coupled with anguish.
Will Brittney Griner be able to return to the United States soon? This decision clearly goes in the opposite direction of such a hypothesis. The final deliberation will be announced soon, and the chances are very slim to hope for any happy ending to this affair in the short term. The United States will undoubtedly try to act to repatriate their national, but it will still take some time.
Source: AFP