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

State Department Spokesperson Ned Price says the US is not in a position to comment publicly “in any detail” on Brittney Griner’s detainment in Russia: “We do not want to say anything that would potentially jeopardise the chances of seeing an American released.”

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Tuesday said the case of WNBA star and US olympian Brittney Griner’s continued detention in Russia is “a priority” for President Joe Biden and his administration after a letter from the basketball player to Mr Biden was made public by Ms Griner’s family.

“This is an issue that is a priority for this President,” said Ms Jean-Pierre, who noted that the US has classified Ms Griner as being “wrongfully detained” by the Russian government.

Andrew Feinberg reports.

Russia has defended the arrest of US women’s basketball star Brittney Griner, pushing back on claims by the Biden administration that her detention in the country is “illegal”.

In a statement, Russian authorities said 31-year-old Ms Griner was detained by Moscow police in February based on “objective facts and evidence”.

“She was caught red-handed while trying to smuggle hash oil,” the statement, issued by Rusia’s foreign ministry to CNN, said. “In Russia, this is a crime.”

Brittney Griner will have a place at the WNBA All-Star Game, being named an honorary starter by Commissioner Cathy Engelbert.

Griner has been detained in Russia since Feb. 17 after authorities at an airport outside of Moscow said she had vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her bag.

“During each season of Brittney’s career in which there has been an All-Star Game, she has been selected as an All-Star,” Engelbert said. “It is not difficult to imagine that if BG were here with us this season, she would once again be selected and would, no doubt, show off her incredible talents. So, it is only fitting that she be named as an honorary starter today and we continue to work on her safe return to the U.S.”

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WNBA player Brittney Griner has written a letter to President Joe Biden pleading for help in freeing her from jail in Russia.

Ms Griner was detained in February by Russian authorities after customs officials allegedly found cartridges containing hashish oil in her luggage.

In excerpts shared by her representatives, she writes: “As I sit here in a Russian prison, alone with my thoughts and without the protection of my wife, family, friends, Olympic jersey, or any accomplishments, I’m terrified I might be here forever.”

Brittney Griner’s wife Cherelle has said she finds it “very disheartening” that she still has not heard back from the White House after the WNBA star sent a handwritten letter to President Joe Biden.

Ms Griner appealed directly to the president to help her efforts to win freedom from detention in Russia on alleged drug charges involving hashish oil.

Her family has had no success in contacting the president regarding the issue, which led the Phoenix Mercury centre to write to Mr Biden in person.

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.

Russia’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday that US basketball player Brittney Griner, who was detained in Russia on drugs charges, may appeal her sentence or apply for clemency once a verdict has been delivered.

Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Alexei Zaitsev said in a briefing: “The court must first deliver its verdict, but no one is stopping Brittney Griner from making use of the appeal procedure, and likewise asking for clemency.”

Mr Zaitsev said: “Attempts to present the case as though the American woman was illegally detained do not stand up to criticism.”

In May, the US State Department designated Ms Griner as “wrongfully detained”.

Ms Griner, who had been playing for a Yekaterinburg-based club during the off-season, was arrested at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport on February 17 on drugs charges that carry up to ten years in prison.

Russian official said that cannabis-infused vaporiser cartridges, which are illegal in Russia, had been found in Ms Griner‘s baggage. Her trial began on Friday and continues tomorrow.

Reporting by Reuters

Brittney Griner’s case comes at an extraordinarily low point in Moscow-Washington relations. Griner was arrested less than a week before Russia sent troops into Ukraine, which aggravated already high tensions between the two countries. The US then imposed sweeping sanctions on Moscow, and Russia denounced the U. for sending weapons to Ukraine.

Elizabeth Rood, US charge d’affaires in Moscow, was in court and said she spoke with Griner, who “is doing as well as can be expected in these difficult circumstances.”

“The Russian Federation has wrongfully detained Brittney Griner,” Ms Rood said. “The practice of wrongful detention is unacceptable wherever it occurs and is a threat to the safety of everyone traveling, working, and living abroad.”

She said the US government, from its highest levels, “is working hard to bring Brittney and all wrongfully detained U.S. nationals home safely.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Friday denied politics played a role in Griner’s detention and prosecution.

“The facts are that the famous athlete was detained in possession of prohibited medication containing narcotic substances,” Mr Peskov told reporters.

“In view of what I’ve said, it can’t be politically motivated,” he added.

Griner’s supporters had kept a low profile in hopes of a quiet resolution until May, when the State Department reclassified her as wrongfully detained and shifted oversight of her case to its special presidential envoy for hostage affairs — effectively the US government’s chief negotiator.

AP

UConn women’s basketball star Paige Bueckers is the latest athlete to call on the Biden administration to bring Brittney Griner home.

In an appearance on ESPN’s NBA Today, Ms Bueckers said: “Just a message to President Biden, the government, and anybody with high enough power to help get Brittney Griner back home. I believe it’s way far due for her to come home, and she’s an American. She’s a hero. She’s our sister in the WNBA, and she’s just family to the whole United States. So, just whatever it takes to get her home, I think it’s definitely time.”

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