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US professional basketball player Brittney Griner has been in prison in Russia for more than four months.
At a re-hearing, she pleaded guilty.
However, she said in court that it was not her intention to break Russian law.
She now faces a ten-year prison sentence.
Why is?
In times of rising diplomatic tensions between Russia and the US, Griner has unintentionally become a political figure
"
Please don't forget me,
" she wrote in a letter to US President Joe Biden in early July.
Karine Jean-Pierre, President Biden's press secretary
»
I can say that the President read the letter.
Brittney Griner is being held in Moscow, we believe she is being wrongly held in Moscow.”
Griner, one of the best basketball players in the world, came to Russia to play for a Russian club outside of the American season and to supplement her salary.
But the journey of the two-time Olympic champion ended with an arrest.
This surveillance video shows them at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport.
According to Russian customs, Griner had cannabis oil in his luggage here in mid-February, i.e. shortly before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which is strictly forbidden in Russia.
Since then she has been in custody in Moscow.
Turn-on diplomat Elizabeth Rood had the opportunity to speak with Brittney Griner during a hearing.
Elizabeth Rood, US diplomat
"She is doing as well as can be expected in these difficult circumstances and has asked me to say that she is of good cheer and not losing faith."
The case of Trevor Reed, who was sentenced to nine years in a prison camp in Russia in 2020, shows that the struggle for nationals can sometimes take months, even years.
The marine veteran was arrested in 2019 for allegedly drunkenly attacking two police officers in Moscow.
In late April, Reed was released in a prisoner swap.
In return, the US returned Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot who was sentenced to 20 years in US prison in 2011 for importing cocaine.
Karine Jean-Pierre, spokeswoman
"
You saw the job Biden's administration did to bring Trevor Reed home.
The same kind of work and focus that we put into Trevor Reed, we'll put into Brittney Griner and others.
So, again, that's a priority."
However, since the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, there has been a complete breakdown in diplomatic relations between Washington and Moscow.
Brittney Griner's wife, who has long held back from making public statements out of concern for making the situation worse, is now venting her frustration on US television.
Cherelle Griner, wife of Brittney Griner
“It's been over 140 days now. Does not work like that. And that's why I won't be silent anymore. I will have to find a balance between harm and help to urge our government to do whatever it can. Because when they are silent, they don't move. They do not do anything. My wife is struggling and we have to help her.«
Griner could now become a political pawn.
The Russian media has repeatedly reported that Russia had sought a prisoner exchange, allegedly in order to free an arms dealer who is in prison in the United States.
It is unlikely that the US government will agree to such a deal at the moment.