Russian Court Upholds US Basketball Star Griner’s 9-year Drug Sentence
KRASNOGORSK, Russia—A Russian court on Tuesday dismissed U.S. WNBA basketball star Brittney Griner’s appeal against a nine-year sentence for possessing and smuggling vape cartridges containing cannabis oil.
Griner and her lawyers had asked for acquittal or at least a reduction in her sentence, which they said was disproportionate to the offense and at odds with Russian judicial practice.
The presiding 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, a two-time Olympic gold medallist, was arrested on Feb. 17 at a Moscow airport, a week before Russia sent troops into Ukraine, and her case has inevitably been viewed in the context of the ensuing crisis in U.S.-Russian relations….