U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner has now been detained in Russia for over 100 days. The WNBA star was arrested in Moscow on February 17 after Russian customs claimed to find hash oil in her luggage. The accusations could mean 10 years in prison for the 31-year-old.
Brittney’s family and supporters’ concern was intensified due to the global political climate: exactly a week after Brittney was detained, the Russian government invaded Ukraine, despite stressing they wouldn’t. Experts believe Russia is using Brittney as a “negotiating chip” against the U.S. and its allies.
In order to help her case, Brittney’s legal team, basketball teammates and loved ones originally declined to speak too publicly. As time went on, more and more started speaking up about the ordeal, especially when the U.S. government ruled that Brittney had been “wrongfully detained.”
What’s new?
The Russian News agency TASS reported back in March that “the court granted the petition of the investigation and extended the term of U.S. citizen Griner’s detention until May 19,” which was already an extension on Brittney’s detainment. On May 13, it was announced that her pre-trial detention had been extended (again) for another month.
Responding to the news, Brittney’s agent Lindsay Kagawa Colas wrote on Twitter, “No athlete, representing any country should have to travel in fear of being taken and used as a negotiating tool. We must protect the sanctity of sport and the entire global sports community should stand together and demand #BrittneyGriner‘s release.”
On May 17, the U.S. Embassy said Russia was preventing them from visiting Brittney Griner: “#AMBSullivan: For the third time in a month, Russian authorities have denied an Embassy visit to detained U.S. citizen Brittney Griner. This is unacceptable. We call on @mfa_russia to provide timely consular access, in line with Russia’s intl & bilateral obligations.”
The same day, NBA commissioner Adam Silver spoke to ESPN about the league’s role in helping to bring Brittney home: “Both the WNBA and its brother league, the NBA, we have a huge responsibility to Brittney Griner as one of our players. Part of our decision to not take a higher profile here frankly came at the suggestion of experts in and out of government who thought the best path to getting Brittney out was not to amplify the issue. Having said that, there’s an enormous role for the public to play through protests or letting their representatives know how strongly they feel about this.”
On May 25, Brittney’s wife Cherelle Griner spoke in public for the first time since Brittney’s detainment, when she was interviewed on Good Morning America.
She revealed that she is hoping to meet with President Biden: “I just keep hearing that, you know, he has the power,” Cherelle said, referring to President Biden. “She’s a political pawn. So if they’re holding her because they want you to do something, then I want you to do it.”
Cherelle said that she’s been allowed to communicate with Brittney through letters, but they haven’t spoken directly since the detainment on February 17.
“I feel every second that BG is not here,” she said to ESPN’s Angela Rye. “Most people are counting by the days, but it’s not days for me.”
When asked if she felt that freeing Brittney was a top priority of the U.S. State Department, she said “I don’t know. I was grateful for the call [from Secretary Blinken]. You say she’s top priority, but I want to see it. I feel like to see it would be to see BG back on U.S. soil.”
May 28 marked 100 days that Griner has been detained in Russia.
