Brittney Griner trial - live: Wife describes ‘gut-wrenching time’ in rally with Al Sharpton

WNBA star Brittney Griner has been escorted into court for the second day of hearings in her trial on charges of smuggling drugs into Russia.

Ms Griner was arrested in February at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport after some hash oil was detected and found in her luggage, for which she now could face a prison sentence of up to ten years.

Dressed in red and wearing handcuffs, the two-time Olympian was clutching a bottle of water and a folder of papers topped with a screenshot of her wife Cherelle, who has sat for interviews demanding the US government do more to secure her release.

Ms Griner was later joined in the courtroom by three US embassy representatives and her lawyers. No TV cameras and only a few journalists are allowed in.

US basketball player Brittney Griner pleaded guilty in a Russian court on Thursday to drugs charges that could see her face 10 years in prison, a Reuters journalist reported from the courtroom.

Griner’s family have called on US President Joe Biden to step up efforts to secure the WNBA star’s release.

“I’d like to plead guilty, your honour. But there was no intent. I didn’t want to break the law,” Griner said, speaking English which was then translated into Russian for the court.

“I’d like to give my testimony later. I need time to prepare,” she added.

The next court hearing was scheduled for 14 July.

Reuters

US Embassy charges d’affaires Elizabeth Rood tells the media she spoke with Brittney Griner in the courtroom today.

Ms Griner told Ms Rood she is eating well, is able to read books, and under the circumstances, she is doing well.

“Most importantly, I was able to share with Ms Griner a letter from President Biden, and Ms Griner was able to read that letter,” says Ms Rood. “I would like again to emphasise the commitment of the US government at the very highest levels to bring home Ms Griner and all US citizens wrongfully detained. As well as the commitment of the US Embassy in Moscow to care for and protect the interest of all US citizens detained or imprisoned in Russia.”

WNBA star Brittney Griner has pleaded guilty in a Russian court to drugs charges that could see her sentenced to ten years in prison.

The basketball player returned to court on Thursday to face her trial as a senior Russian diplomat said that US criticism of Russia’s handling of the case wouldn’t help Ms Griner’s possibilities of being released.

“I’d like to plead guilty, your honour. But there was no intent. I didn’t want to break the law,” Ms Griner said in English. Her words were translated into Russian for the court, Reuters reported.

Gustaf Kilander has the latest.

MSNBC host Reverend Al Sharpton has called on President Joe Biden to help him arrange a visit to see WNBA star Brittney Griner at her prison in Russia.

“It’s my intention to be in Russia next week. And I hope the White House will help to make it possible for me to do a clergy visit to let her know of the support and to let her know that her family and everyone is concerned about her and pray with her,” Mr Sharpton said on Morning Joe on Wednesday morning.

The reverend said he had spoken with Ms Griner’s father about the visit and that seeing her in person was important to establish how well she is being treated.

Ms Griner has been in contact with US Embassy staff and has written regularly to her wife and pleaded directly to President Biden, but visits have been difficult given Russia’s diplomatic and eocnomic isolation over its war in Ukraine.

Mr Sharpton said he wants to “bring a direct message back to this president from her and to hear from her. And you must remember as her wife has told me, she’s in a prison where most of the people can’t even talk English. She can’t even communicate with the people that run the prison. She’s in a Russian jail.”

He added: “This is atrocious at best. We don’t even know if she’s even remotely guilty of what they’re saying. Is she being used as some political tool for Putin? We don’t know. Which is why we want to go.”

Speaking outside of the courtroom, Brittney Griner’s lawyers say their plan now is to count on the leniency of the Russian court given the WNBA star’s guilty plea and statement that she did not intend to break the law by transporting the hash oil, but had been packing in a hurry.

It is hoped that this will speed up a verdict and move negotiations of a possible prisoner swap forward.

MSNBC reports:

Former US ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul appeared on MSNBC on Tuesday to discuss Brittney Griner’s letter urging action from President Biden to get her and other Americans detained in Russia back home.

“This is not a terrorist organisation. This is a government, and they should consider this swap. Not just Brittney Griner, as she rightly writes in her letter, but also Paul Whelan and Mark Fogel, another American wrongly detained in Russia,” Mr McFaul told Andrea Mitchell.

President Biden and vice-president Harris spoke on Wednesday with the wife of Brittney Griner, the WNBA star who has been detained in Russia since February.

Ms Griner’s family, including wife Cherelle Griner, have been critical of the White House, saying the president hasn’t done enough to free the Phoenix Mercury player from an unjust detention on minor drug charges.

Josh Marcus reports.

The family of Paul Whelan have said they are “astonished” that US President Joe Biden has not spoken to them personally while he remains detained in Russia.

Elizabeth Whelan, the 49-year-old’s sister, said the Biden administration had not spoken with them since May in an interview with CNN on Wednesday.

Hours earlier, Mr Biden said he and vice president Kamala Harris had spoken with the wife of the WNBA star Britney Griner amid her trial in Moscow and calls from her supporters for her release.

Gino Spocchia reports.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov warned on Thursday that “attempts by the American side to make noise in public ... don’t help the practical settlement of issues.”

The White House said President Joe Biden called Brittney Griner’s wife on Wednesday to assure her that he’s doing all he can to obtain the athlete’s release, as soon as possible. They spoke after Biden read a letter from Griner in which she said she feared she’d never return home.

Washington hasn’t made public its strategy in the case and the United States may have little leverage with Moscow because of strong animosity due to Russia’s military actions in Ukraine. The State Department has designated Griner as wrongfully detained, moving her case under the supervision of its special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, effectively the government’s chief hostage negotiator.

Asked about the possibility of Griner being swapped for a Russian jailed in the US, Ryabkov, the senior Russian diplomat, noted that until her trial is over “there are no formal or procedural reasons to talk about any further steps.”

He warned that U.S. criticism, including a description of Griner as wrongfully detained and dismissive comments about the Russian judicial system, “makes it difficult to engage in detailed discussion of any possible exchanges.”

“The persistence with which the US administration ... describes those who were handed prison sentences for serious criminal articles and those who are awaiting the end of investigation and court verdicts as ‘wrongfully detained’ reflects Washington’s refusal to have a sober view of the outside world,” Ryabkov snapped.

The Associated Press