By JIM HEINTZ Related Press
MOSCOW (AP) — Legal professionals for American basketball star Brittney Griner have filed an enchantment of her nine-year Russian jail sentence for drug possession, Russian information companies reported Monday, amid talks between the U.S. and Russia that would result in a high-profile prisoner swap.
Griner, an eight-time all-star middle with the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury and two-time Olympic gold medalist, was convicted Aug. 4 after police mentioned they discovered vape canisters containing hashish oil in her baggage at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport.
Griner admitted that she had the canisters in her baggage, however mentioned she had inadvertently packed them in haste and that she had no legal intent. Her protection staff offered written statements that she had been prescribed hashish to deal with ache.
Her February arrest got here at a time of heightened tensions between Moscow and Washington, simply days earlier than Russia despatched troops into Ukraine. On the time, Griner, acknowledged as one of many best gamers in WNBA historical past, was returning to Russia, the place she performs in the course of the U.S. league’s offseason.
Lawyer Maria Blagovolina was quoted by Russian information companies on Monday as saying the enchantment was filed, as was anticipated, however the grounds for it weren’t instantly clear.
The nine-year sentence was near the utmost of 10 years, and Blagovolina and co-counsel Alexander Boykov mentioned after the conviction that the punishment was extreme. They mentioned that in comparable circumstances defendants have acquired a mean sentence of about 5 years, with a couple of third of them granted parole.
Earlier than her conviction, the U.S. State Division declared Griner to be “wrongfully detained” — a cost that Russia has sharply rejected.
Reflecting the rising strain on the Biden administration to do extra to carry Griner dwelling, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken took the weird step of showing publicly in July that Washington had made a “substantial proposal” to get Griner dwelling, together with Paul Whelan, an American serving a 16-year sentence in Russia for espionage.
Blinken didn’t elaborate, however The Related Press and different information organizations have reported that Washington has supplied to free Viktor Bout, a Russian arms supplier who's serving a 25-year sentence within the U.S. and as soon as earned the nickname the “Service provider of Loss of life.”
On Sunday, a senior Russian diplomat mentioned talks about an trade have been performed.
“This fairly delicate problem of the swap of convicted Russian and U.S. residents is being mentioned by the channels outlined by our presidents,” Alexander Darchiev, head of the International Ministry’s North America division, instructed state information company Tass. “These people are, certainly, being mentioned. The Russian facet has lengthy been in search of the discharge of Viktor Bout. The main points must be left to professionals.”