Two-time Olympic gold medallist Brittney Griner was arrested on February 17 at a Moscow airport with vape cartridges containing cannabis oil, which is banned in Russia
Tuesday 25 October 2022 18:34, UK
A Russian court on Tuesday rejected an appeal by US basketball star Brittney Griner against her nine-year prison sentence for possession and smuggling of drugs.
The two-time Olympic gold medallist was arrested on February 17 at a Moscow airport with vape cartridges containing cannabis oil, which is banned in Russia. She was sentenced on August 4 to nine years in a colony.
Griner is an eight-time all-star centre with the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury and a two-time Olympic gold medallist.
Griner and her lawyers had asked for acquittal or at least a reduction in her sentence, which they said was disproportionate to the offence and at odds with Russian judicial practice.
The judge said the verdict was upheld "without changes" except for the counting of time served in pre-trial detention as part of the sentence.
Griner took part in the hearing via video call from a penal colony outside Moscow where she is imprisoned.
The US said it will continue to engage with Russia to bring home Griner, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said.
"We are aware of the news out of Russia that Brittney Griner will continue to be wrongfully detained under intolerable circumstances after having to undergo another sham judicial proceeding today," Sullivan said in a statement.
The Biden administration "has continued to engage with Russia through every available channel and make every effort to bring home Brittney as well as to support and advocate for other Americans detained in Russia, including fellow wrongful detainee Paul Whelan," Sullivan added.
Griner's February arrest came at a time of heightened tensions between Moscow and Washington, just days before Russia sent troops into Ukraine.
At the time, Griner was returning to Russia, where she played during the US league's off-season. Griner admitted she had the canisters in her luggage but testified she inadvertently packed them in haste and had no criminal intent.
Her defence team presented written statements saying she had been prescribed cannabis to treat pain.
The nine-year sentence was close to the maximum of 10 years, and Griner's lawyers argued after the conviction that the punishment was excessive. They said in similar cases, defendants have received an average sentence of about five years, with about a third of them granted parole.
The United States blasted the decision, calling the nine-year sentence for drug smuggling that it upheld "excessive and disproportionate".
US Chargee d'Affaires Elizabeth Rood, currently the most senior US diplomat in Moscow, attended the hearing at a court just outside of Moscow and called the sentence "excessive and disproportionate".
