Griner, 31, faces up to 10 years in prison under the charge.
Griner was arrested in February 2022 at a Moscow airport after Russian officials say they found
cannabis oil in her luggage. The basketball star, who plays in Russia during the WNBA’s offseason, has been held since then on drug smuggling charges punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Her trial
began last week.
“This is a serious offense, confirmed by indisputable evidence … Attempts to present the case as if the American was detained illegally do not hold up,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexei Zaitsev said Wednesday, June 6.
“The law has been violated, and arguments about the innocent nature of Griner’s addiction, which, by the way, is punishable in some U.S. states, are inappropriate in this case,” he said.
While there has been much speculation about the State department’s handling of the incident to avoid Griner becoming a political prisoner under the rule of Russian President Vladimir Putin, in early June, a State Department official sent a statement to ESPN saying, “The Department of State has determined that the Russian Federation has wrongfully detained U.S. citizen Brittney Griner.”
Russian news media have repeatedly speculated that Griner could be swapped for Russian arms trader Viktor Bout, nicknamed “the Merchant of Death,” who is serving a 25-year sentence in the U.S. on conviction of conspiracy to kill U.S. citizens and providing aid to a terrorist organization.
Griner’s next hearing is set for July 14.
