Basketball superstar Griner’s terrible ordeal’ over after prisoner swap for ‘Merchant of Death’
American basketball star Brittney Griner was headed dwelling on Friday [AEDT] after being free of a Russian jail in a swap for Viktor Bout, the infamous arms vendor often known as the “Merchant of Death.” President Joe Biden introduced Griner’s launch in an handle to the nation and Moscow confirmed she had been exchanged in Abu Dhabi for Bout, who was serving a 25-year jail sentence within the United States.
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“She is safe. She is on a plane. She is on her way home,” Biden mentioned, including that he had spoken to Griner and he or she was in “good spirits” after a “terrible ordeal.”
The 32-year-old Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, WNBA champion and LGBT trailblazer, was arrested on drug expenses at a Moscow airport in February in opposition to a backdrop of hovering tensions over Ukraine.
Another American held in Russia, Paul Whelan, a former US Marine detained in 2018 and accused of spying, was not a part of the prisoner change and he informed CNN he was “greatly disappointed.”
“I don’t understand why I’m still sitting here,” Whelan informed the US tv community in a cellphone name from the Russian penal colony the place he’s imprisoned.
Biden pledged to proceed to hunt Whelan’s freedom, saying “we will never give up.”
“Sadly, for totally illegitimate reasons, Russia is treating Paul’s case different than Brittney’s,” he mentioned.
Griner was accused of possession of vape cartridges with a small amount of hashish oil and sentenced in August to 9 years in jail.
Biden mentioned Griner’s launch was the results of “painstaking and intense negotiations” and he or she would want time to get better from “needless trauma” after being “wrongfully detained.”
Biden made the announcement on the White House flanked by Griner’s spouse, Cherelle Griner, Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
“I’m just standing here, overwhelmed with emotions,” Cherelle Griner mentioned, describing her spouse’s imprisonment as “one of the darkest moments of my life.”
She additionally acknowledged Whelan’s destiny, saying: “Today my family is whole, but as you all are aware there’s so many other families who are not whole.”
WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert welcomed Griner’s freedom saying there was a “collective wave of joy and relief” within the ladies’s skilled league the place the 6’9” (2.06 metre) Griner has been a star for a decade.
Former president Barack Obama tweeted “kudos to @POTUS and his administration for the difficult diplomatic work involved to make it happen.”
Biden publicly thanked the United Arab Emirates for serving to “facilitate” Griner’s launch and the UAE issued a joint assertion with Saudi Arabia saying it was the results of “mediation efforts” by leaders of the 2 Arab nations.
Griner and Bout were flown to Abu Dhabi by private planes, the statement said, and were exchanged “in the presence of specialists from the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.” Biden said Griner was expected back in the United States within 24 hours.
At the time of her arrest, Griner had been in Russia to play for the professional Yekaterinburg team, during her off-season from the Phoenix Mercury.
She pleaded guilty to the charges against her, but said she did not intend to break the law or use the banned substance in Russia.
Griner testified that she had permission from a US doctor to use medicinal cannabis to relieve pain from her many injuries.
The use of medical marijuana is not allowed in Russia.
The Russian foreign ministry said it had been negotiating with Washington to secure Bout’s release “for a long time” and that initially the United States had “refused dialogue” on including him in any swap.
“Nevertheless, the Russian Federation continued to actively work to rescue our compatriot,” it mentioned.
“The Russian citizen has been returned to his homeland.”
The 55-year-old Bout, who was accused of arming rebels in a few of the world’s bloodiest conflicts, was arrested in a US sting operation in Thailand in 2008, extradited to the United States and sentenced in 2012 to 25 years in jail.
The 2005 movie “Lord of War” starring Nicolas Cage was based mostly partially on Bout’s arms trafficking exploits and he has been the topic of a number of books and TV reveals.
Asked about Bout’s launch, a senior US defence official mentioned “there is a concern that he would return to doing the same kind of work that he’s done in the past.”
