A choose in Russia convicted American basketball star Brittney Griner of drug possession and smuggling Thursday and sentenced her to 9 years in jail.
Decide Anna Sotnikova stated the time Griner has served in custody since her arrest in February would depend towards the sentence.
Griner reacted to the sentence with little emotion. She listened to the decision from the defendant's cage, a clean stare on her face.
Whereas recapping the proof and giving her findings Thursday, the choose stated the 31-year-old Griner illegally introduced medication into Russia.
Earlier than the unusually fast verdict was introduced, Griner made a last enchantment to the courtroom. She stated she had no intention to interrupt the regulation by bringing vape cartridges with hashish oil into the nation when she flew to Moscow in February to play basketball within the metropolis of Yekaterinburg.
Consideration now turns to the potential for a high-stakes prisoner swap that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken proposed to Russian Overseas Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Below the proposed deal, Griner and Paul Whelan, an American imprisoned in Russia on an espionage conviction, would go free.
Russian officers have remained poker-faced a few attainable deal and chafed at US statements in regards to the case, saying a attainable deal needs to be mentioned by means of “quiet diplomacy with out releases of speculative data.”
US. President Joe Biden issued a press release on the decision that referred to Griner as “wrongfully detained," a designation that Russian officers have bristled at.
“At the moment, American citizen Brittney Griner obtained a jail sentence that's yet one more reminder of what the world already knew: Russia is wrongfully detaining Brittney. It’s unacceptable, and I name on Russia to launch her instantly so she could be along with her spouse, family members, associates, and teammates," Biden stated.
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