- US basketball player Brittney Griner, sentenced to nine years in prison in Russia, has been released in a prisoner swap.
- It was exchanged for the Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who was arrested in the United States, at Abu Dhabi airport, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.
- The negotiations had been going on for months.
Russia and the US have exchanged prisoners in the past, despite tensions over Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine.
US President Joe Biden confirmed Griner’s release on Twitter. ‘She’s safe. She’s on an airplane. She’s on her way home,” US President Joe Biden wrote on Twitter. He just spoke to her.
In August, a Russian court sentenced Griner to nine years in a camp for drug possession in a trial heavily criticized by the United States. Most recently, she was transferred to a women’s prison camp in the Russian republic of Mordovia in the greater Volga region. From the beginning there was hope that the 32-year-old could be released if prisoners were exchanged.
Viktor Bout on his way to Russia
The athlete, who has played for the Russian top club UMMC Yekaterinburg in the Urals since 2015, had so-called vape cartridges and hashish oil with her during a baggage check at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport, according to the judiciary. It is said to have been 0.5 grams. This was ruled as illegal drug possession and attempted smuggling.
The court saw no mitigating circumstances. Griner had pleaded guilty. From the start, Washington had accused Moscow of a politically motivated trial – primarily because of the high sentence.
According to the New York Times, Griner had become increasingly concerned in captivity that he might not be released. Accordingly, she was only allowed to spend an hour in a small courtyard once a day and was otherwise locked in a small cell with two other inmates. There the 2.06 meter tall woman slept on a bed that was extended for her.
In return, Russia received the former Soviet officer Viktor Bout. It was said in Moscow that he was on the plane on his way to Russia. He is said to have illegally equipped criminal regimes and rebels in numerous countries with weapons. The Russian, notorious as the “dealer of death”, was imprisoned as an arms dealer in the USA.
Biden: «Griner wrongly detained»
US President Joe Biden honored the athlete in a speech as a great American. “She represents the best of America – all along the line.” The 32-year-old is on her way home after being “unjustly” detained in Russia for months. “Welcome home, Brittney,” Biden said.
Biden thanked the US diplomats who negotiated the prisoner exchange and the United Arab Emirates, through which Griner was able to travel. The athlete is sitting on an airplane and is in a good mood, according to the US President.
“The fact remains that she lost months of her life, experienced unnecessary trauma. She deserves space, privacy and time with her loved ones to recover and heal from her time unjustly imprisoned.” Griner’s wife, Cherelle Griner, thanked Biden and the entire government for their efforts.