PUS resident Biden: the sentence of the basketball player Griner for drug smuggling is unacceptable The US president demanded that Russia release the athlete and called her detention illegal. He promised to use “all possible means” to bring her home. The court sentenced Griner to nine years for drug smuggling Brittney Griner The verdict of the American basketball player Brittney Griner, who was sentenced to nine years in prison for drug smuggling, is unacceptable for the United States, Washington demands the immediate release of the athlete, President Joe Biden said, his words are quoted by the press service of the White House. “Today, US citizen Brittney Griner was sentenced to prison. <..."This is unacceptable, and I call on Russia to immediately release her so that she can be with her wife, loved ones, friends and teammates," the US president said. In his opinion, Russia “unlawfully” detains Griner in custody, Biden promised to use “all possible ways” to return her and another American convicted in Russia, “Paul Whelan” to his homeland.
The hearings in the Griner case were held on the afternoon of August 4 in the Khimki Court of Moscow. The basketball player was sentenced to nine years in prison, although the prosecutor demanded nine years and six months of punishment in a general regime colony for her. The prosecution also demanded that Griner be fined 1 million rubles. Griner’s lawyer Maria Blagovolina said that the defense will appeal the verdict. Video Read on RBC Pro Pro Why your digital product is not needed by the client: 5 errors in web navigation Instructions Pro A catastrophe is approaching in the cryptocurrency mining market. What to do for investors Articles Pro Most sellers have raised prices on marketplaces. What are their mistakes Articles Pro Companies allowed to hide accounting. What is the catch of the Pro Article Because of what phrases and settingsparents’ children will not be able to become leaders of the Instruction Pro “No one understood the boss”. How to Change Speech to Better Guide Instructions Pro Miserly Billionaire: How Gates, Buffett, Brin Spend Money in Everyday life Articles Pro How Outgoing Western companies will free up 700 thousand square meters of space Articles Griner was detained in February 2022 at Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport, and cartridges for vapes with hashish oil were found in her bag. A criminal case was opened against the athlete under the article on the smuggling of narcotic drugs in a significant amount (paragraph 2 of Article 229.1 of the Criminal Code), which provides for five to ten years of imprisonment. Griner admitted that she was transporting drugs, but stated that she “was going in a hurry” and did not commit a crime out of malice. The basketball player’s defense insists that medical cannabis was prescribed to her by a doctor in the United States to relieve chronic pain. At the end of July, CNN, citing its own sources, reported that the Joe Biden administration offered Russia to exchange Griner and Whelan, convicted in the espionage case, for entrepreneur Viktor Bout. The latter was sentenced by an American court to 25 years for trying to supply weapons to the organization “Revolutionary Armed ForcesColombia—The Army of the People», which the United States considers terrorist. The press secretary of the Russian president Dmitry Peskov replied that Moscow had not agreed with the United States on the exchange. Lawyers Griner Maria Blagovolina and Alexander Boikov explained to RBC that it would be possible to talk about the exchange from a legal point of view only after the verdict. Griner is 31 years old, since 2015 she has been playing for the Yekaterinburg club UMMC. As a member of the American basketball team, the athlete twice won the Olympic Games (in 2016 and 2020), as well as the world championships (2014, 2018). Authors Tags Subscribe to RuTube RBC Live broadcasts, videos and recordings of broadcasts on our RuTube channel
