Russian justice has found American basketball player Brittney Griner guilty, arrested last February for alleged drug possession.
At the court hearing, held at the Khimki court, the prosecutor has asked for "nine years and six months" for Griner, who would serve his sentence in a general regime correctional colony, according to the Russian news agency Interfax.
In addition, Ella Griner would be required to pay a fine of one million rubles, which is equivalent to about 16,000 euros.
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Griner pleaded guilty to a drug offense in a Moscow court in July, for which he could face up to 10 years in prison.
The 31-year-old player, winner of two Olympic golds, was arrested in February at the Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow, after the police found two cartridges with cannabis oil in her luggage.
Her lawyer, Alexander Boykov, stated that the athlete recognized that they were hers, but that she brought them to Russia by mistake.
Brittney Griner is escorted by police this Thursday at the courthouse in Khimki, Russia.REUTERS
Griner, who has been playing for UMMC Ekaterinburg in the Russian first division since 2018, has assured that he did not intend to break the law and that his parents have taught him to assume his responsibilities: “I made a mistake without bad intentions and I hope that the ruling does not end my life”, he said in his final argument before the court.
For his part, the Secretary of State of the United States, Antony Blinken, said last week that he would talk "in the coming days" with the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, to address a possible exchange of prisoners that includes the player. .
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