The White House reported that President Joe Biden called the wife of WNBA player Britney Greener, who was imprisoned in Russia, and promised to work hard to get her released as soon as possible.
Biden’s meeting with Sherell Griner followed Britney Griner’s personal appeal to the president in a handwritten letter from the basketball player received by the White House on Monday. In the letter, Griner said he feared he would be permanently imprisoned in Russia and asked Biden “not to forget me and other American prisoners.”
Griner has been in custody in Russia for four months and is currently on trial for possession of e-cigarette cartridges containing cannabis oil.
The call came as the Griner family began to pressurize the Biden administration more aggressively by talking about their case, including a letter from Brittney Griner to the president and several television interviews with Cherell Griner. doing enough. take your wife home
White urged the President to reassure Cherella that she is working to secure the speedy release of Britney, as well as the release of Paul Whelan and other U.S. citizens illegally detained or held hostage in Russia and around the world. Said. House said this in a statement. “He also read her a draft of the letter the President sent to Britney Greener today.”
According to the White House, Biden offered his support to the family and promised to give them “all possible assistance” during the administration’s crackdown on Britney Griner.
Griner, 31, is in the midst of a lawsuit that began last week in Russia after he was arrested on February 17 for possession of cannabis oil while returning to play for his team in Russia. The trial will continue on Thursday.
Less than 1% of defendants in Russia were acquitted and, unlike US courts, acquittals can be overturned.
Cherell Griner told CBS Mornings on Tuesday that she was “disappointed” that she had not heard from Biden while her husband was incarcerated.
A spokesperson for Cherelle Griner did not immediately respond to a text message from the Associated Press. Cherell Griner is scheduled to speak publicly at a rally hosted by Britney Griner’s WNBA team in Phoenix on Wednesday night.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Wednesday that Biden was “clear about the need to release every American wrongfully imprisoned or held hostage abroad, including Britney Griner.”
“This is the most important thing for the president,” he said. Jean-Pierre added that Biden receives daily updates on the progress of efforts to release Britney Griner and other Americans the US government believes to be illegally detained in Russia and other countries.
Representatives of Britney Griner on Monday shared excerpts from her letter to the president.
In one of them he wrote: “… Sitting here in a Russian prison, alone in my thoughts and without the protection of my wife, family, friends, Olympic jersey, or any achievement, I fear that I will be here forever. ”
The letter was delivered to the White House on July 4, which Britney Greener said was a special day for her family.
“On July 4, our family often honors those who fought for our freedom, including my father, who was a Vietnam War veteran,” said the Phoenix Mercury Center. “It saddens me to think about how I usually celebrate this day, because this year freedom means something completely different to me.”
Griner’s supporters are promoting the exchange of prisoners, such as in April that Marine Corps veteran Trevor Reid was repatriated in exchange for a Russian pilot convicted of colluding with drug traffickers.
Russian media have repeatedly thought he could be traded for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison for plotting to assassinate US citizens and aiding a terrorist organization.
Russia has been campaigning for Bout’s release for years. But the huge gap between Griner’s lawsuit over his alleged possession of vape cartridges containing hemp oil and Bout’s global lethal weapons deals may not be satisfactory for the United States.
Others suggest it could be sold along with Whelan, a former Marine and security chief who was sentenced to 16 years in prison for espionage charges that the US has repeatedly called traps.
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AP Basketball journalist Doug Feinberg contributed to this report.
Source: Breitbart
