U.S. Sec. of State Antony Blinken released a statement on Twitter Oct. 25 condemning a Russian court's denial of WNBA player Brittney Griner's appeal of her nine-year prison sentence and reiterating that her release is a U.S. priority.
Blinken stated in the post that the rejection of Griner's appeal "is another failure of justice, compounding the injustice of her detention."
“Today’s denial of appeal for Brittney Griner is another failure of justice, compounding the injustice of her detention,” Blinken said in the Tweet. “Russia is wrongfully detaining Brittney, and nothing about her conviction or the denial of this appeal changes that. Securing her release is our priority.’
The U.S. basketball star and Olympic gold medalist was arrested Feb. 17 after Russian customs agents at a Moscow airport found vape cartridges containing THC oil in her luggage. Griner was entering the country to join the Russian team she plays for during the WNBA off-season, according to the Associated Press. She was convicted in a Russian court on Aug. 4 and sentenced to nine years in a Russian prison; her appeal was denied Oct. 25.
Griner's lawyers Maria Blagovolina and Alexander Boykov argued that the nine-year sentence was excessive, given the maximum sentence is 10 years, the AP report states. In similar cases, the AP reports, defendants received an average sentence of 5 years and with a third were given probation. Her lawyers have said they will discuss next steps with Griner.
The DOS released a statement by Blinken in August addressing Griner's conviction and sentence. Blinken stated the sentencing illustrates one of the U.S.'s "significant concerns" with both Russia's legal system and its government's "use of wrongful detentions to advance its own agenda, using individuals as political pawns."
"Nothing about today’s decision changes our determination that Brittney Griner is wrongfully detained," Blinken said in the Aug. 4 statement, "and we will continue working to bring Brittney and fellow wrongfully detained U.S. citizen Paul Whelan home. This is an absolute priority of mine and the Department’s."
According to multiple published reports, the U.S. has offered to release Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout in exchange for Griner and American Paul Whelan, who is serving a 16-year sentence for espionage.
ESPN called the court's denial "a completely anticipated result in a trial that U.S. and international officials have called an illegitimate proceeding" in its Oct. 25 report on the court's decision. ESPN, the AP and other news media have reported the decision increases the likelihood that the U.S. will pursue the prisoner swap with Russia.
Griner appeared in court via video conference. During the appeals hearing, the court said Griner’s prison sentence will be recalculated to include time she has already spent in pre-trial detention, the AP reports. Each day Griner spent in pre-trial detention will be counted as 1½ days in prison; however, the adjustment still leaves Griner with 8 years in prison to serve.
