MOSCOW (AP) — WNBA star Brittney Griner will remain in Russian custody until July 2, Russian state news agency TASS reported on Tuesday.
The 31-year-old American basketball player has been detained in Russia since February on drug trafficking charges. The US State Department reclassified him as illegally incarcerated last month.
The Khimki District Court of the Moscow Region has reported that Griner’s detention has been extended for the third time, with a top Russian diplomat saying Moscow will not include him in the prisoner swap “until his trial”, TASS reported. Completed. “
According to TASS, Deputy Secretary of State Sergei Ryabkov has responded to reports in the US media that the Biden administration has offered to exchange convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout for Griner. Ryabkov did not specify the timing of the actor’s case review.
Griner’s supporters continue to press for Griner’s release, fearing that Moscow could use him as a bargaining chip amid war tensions in Ukraine.
Griner, a two-time Olympian playing in Russia in the WNBA off-season, was detained at a Moscow airport after authorities said he possessed cannabis oil e-cigarette cartridges. She was accused of “smuggling large quantities of drugs”, punishable by up to 10 years in prison in Russia.
Houston native plays for Phoenix Mercury.
State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters on Tuesday that he understood he had learned that it had been extended through TASS, which department officials said was only problematic.
“This case has a problem from head to toe,” he said. “That’s why we referred to Britney Griner as being wrongfully imprisoned. That’s why we are doing everything we can to get her released from custody in Russia as soon as possible,” she said.
Source: Breitbart
