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Brittney Griner, hostage in Moscow to East-West tensions

2022-08-05T17:18:29.780Z


STORY – Sentenced to 9 years in prison, the basketball player could be the subject of a prisoner exchange.


Moscow

The outcome was hardly in doubt.

Here is the American basketball star sentenced by the court of Khimki, in the suburbs of Moscow, to 9 years of detention in a penal colony.

In Russia, acquittals hardly exist and, in any case, Brittney Griner, advised by her Russian lawyers to show good will, had pleaded partially guilty to the charges against her.

Yes, she did of course have cannabis oil on her – contained in vape cartridges – when she arrived at Cheremetyevo airport last February, without declaring it in the customs area.

But no, it wasn't for drug trafficking.

"

I never knowingly wanted to contravene the laws of the Russian Federation

," the 31-year-old basketball player repeated throughout the trial, explaining in passing that the cannabis oil had been prescribed to her by a doctor in Arizona, where this is legal, to alleviate his chronic back pain.

Never mind: Judge Anna…

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Source: lefigaro

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