The Phoenix and Yekaterinburg basketball player was arrested in Russia in February with cannabis-infused vape juice in her luggage.
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The Russian prosecution requested, Thursday, August 4, nine and a half years in prison against the American basketball star Brittney Griner, detained in Russia on charges of cannabis trafficking, in full tension between Moscow and Washington.
“I ask that Griner be found guilty and sentenced to nine and a half years in a colony. (prison) conventional diet“and a fine of one million rubles (16,000 euros), said prosecutor Nikolai Vlassenko, according to an AFP journalist present at the hearing at the Khimki court, near Moscow. It is almost the maximum possible requisition for what Russian law considers a crime, set at 10 years in prison. After these requisitions, facing the court, the American basketball player asked for clemency: “I made an honest mistake and hope the judgment doesn’t end my life here“.
Arrested in February with cannabis-based vaping liquid when arriving in Moscow, Brittney Griner, 31 years old and 2.06 m tall, is considered one of the best basketball players in the world. Double Olympic champion, she pleaded guilty while claiming to have brought this substance to Russia inadvertently and refuting any drug trafficking.
Thursday, the prosecutor assured him that she had knowingly tried to “hide” this cannabis-based liquid from customs officers at the airport. In the midst of the conflict in Ukraine, Griner’s trial took on a geopolitical dimension with talks between Moscow and Washington on a possible prisoner exchange of which the player could be a part.
Last week, US Foreign Minister Antony Blinken said Washington had made a “substantial offer” to Moscow to secure the release of Griner and another American detained in Russia, Paul Whelan.