Brittney Griner in ‘good spirits,’ reunites with wife in U.S. after Russian prisoner swap – National | 24CA News
Brittney Griner returned to the United States Friday and was reunited along with her spouse almost 10 months after her detention in Russia made the basketball star essentially the most high-profile American jailed overseas and set off a political firestorm.
Griner’s standing as an overtly homosexual Black girl, her prominence in girls’s basketball and her imprisonment in a rustic the place authorities have been hostile to the LGBTQ neighborhood heightened considerations for her and introduced super consideration to the case. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine after her arrest difficult issues additional.
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WNBA star Brittney Griner returns to U.S. after prisoner swap with Russia
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The deal that introduced residence Griner, 32, in change for infamous arms seller Viktor Bout achieved a prime aim for President Joe Biden. But the U.S. didn’t win freedom for one more American, Paul Whelan, who has been jailed for almost 4 years.
Asked if extra such swaps may occur, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated Friday that “everything is possible,” noting that “compromises have been found” to clear the way in which for Thursday’s change.
Biden’s authorization to launch Bout, the Russian felon as soon as nicknamed “the Merchant of Death,” underscored the heightened urgency that his administration confronted to get Griner residence, notably after the current decision of her felony case on drug fees and her subsequent switch to a penal colony.
Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and Phoenix Mercury professional basketball star, was seen getting off a airplane that landed Friday at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in Texas.
“So happy to have Brittney back on U.S. soil. Welcome home BG!” tweeted Roger Carstens, the particular presidential envoy for hostage affairs.
“We’re just so happy to have her back,” Vanessa Nygaard, head coach of the Mercury, stated in an interview exterior of the crew’s Phoenix stadium.
“We are looking eagerly forward to welcoming her back to our community,” stated Nygaard, including that she hadn’t but spoken with Griner.
Biden spoke by telephone with Griner, who was reunited along with her spouse, Cherelle. U.S. officers who met her upon arrival stated she was in “very good spirits” and seemed to be in good well being, based on White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who famous that she could be provided specialised medical companies and counseling.
The WNBA star, who additionally performed professional basketball in Russia, was arrested at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport in February after Russian authorities stated she was carrying vape canisters with hashish oil. The U.S. State Department declared Griner to be “wrongfully detained” _ a cost that Russia has sharply rejected.
Griner pleaded responsible in July however nonetheless confronted trial as a result of admitting guilt in Russia’s judicial system doesn’t mechanically finish a case. She was sentenced to 9 years.
She acknowledged in court docket that she possessed canisters with hashish oil however stated she had no felony intent and by chance packed them. Her protection crew offered written statements that she had been prescribed hashish to deal with ache.
The Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed Thursday’s swap, saying in a press release carried by Russian news companies that the change befell in Abu Dhabi and Bout had been flown residence.
In releasing Bout, the U.S. freed a former Soviet Army lieutenant colonel whom the Justice Department as soon as described as one of many world’s most prolific arms sellers. He was arrested in Thailand in 2008 and extradited to the U.S. in 2010.
Bout was serving a 25-year sentence on fees that he conspired to promote tens of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in weapons that U.S officers stated had been for use towards Americans.
— Tucker reported from Washington.
© 2022 The Canadian Press
