A Russian court rejected WNBA star Brittney Griner’s appeal of her nine-year sentence on drug smuggling charges Tuesday.
Griner took part in the hearing via video from a penal colony outside Moscow where she is imprisoned, The Associated Press reported.
The appeals court in Krasnogorsk, near Moscow, recalculated her sentence slightly. Unless the U.S. government can negotiate a deal for her release, she’ll serve around eight years in prison for being caught bringing vape canisters containing cannabis oil in her luggage as she arrived in Moscow to play for a Russian women’s team during the WNBA offseason in February.
The Phoenix Mercury star admitted she had the canisters containing the banned products in her suitcase, pleading guilty in July, but said, “I didn’t want to break the law.”
The White House issued a statement early Tuesday condemning the ruling.
“We are aware of the news out of Russia that Brittney Griner will continue to be wrongfully detained under intolerable circumstances after having to undergo another sham judicial proceeding today,” said the statement, attributed to National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.
“President Biden has been very clear that Brittney should be released immediately. In recent weeks, the Biden-Harris Administration has continued to engage with Russia through every available channel and make every effort to bring home Brittney as well as to support and advocate for other Americans detained in Russia, including fellow wrongful detainee Paul Whelan,” the statement continued. “The Administration remains in regular touch with representatives of the families, and we continue to admire their courage in the face of these unimaginable circumstances.”
Whelan, a US citizen who served in the Marines, was detained at a Moscow hotel in December 2018 and arrested on espionage charges. He vehemently denied he was spying, but was convicted and sentenced in June 2020 to 16 years in prison in a trial U.S. officials denounced as unfair.
Biden met with Griner’s wife, Cherelle Griner, last month, and pledged to bring the ballplayer and Whelan home.
The team has Griner’s photo pinned to the top of its Twitter feed, with a message that says “249 days feels like a lifetime without your presence. Bring our sister home.”
The eight-time All-Star and two-time Olympic gold medalist was arrested days before Russia invaded Ukraine, and her ordeal has continued during the heightened tensions surrounding the war, complicating negotiations for her release as well as Whelan’s. In July, Secretary of State Antony Blinken took the unusual step of revealing publicly in July that Washington had made a “substantial proposal” to get Griner home, The AP reported, but he did not elaborate.
President Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin are both expected to attend a summit of Group of 20 leaders next month in Indonesia, The New York Times reported. Biden has said he would only speak with the Russian leader there to discuss Griner’s case.
Some have speculated that they could be exchanged for convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, whose life story was the inspiration for the Nicholas Cage movie, “Lord of War.” Bout, once nicknamed the “merchant of death,” is serving a 25-year sentence in the U.S.
The White House said it has not yet received a productive response from Russia to the offer.
