WNBA star Britney Griner, 31, told her Russian Atty. Maria Blagovolina that she’s anxious about her trial coming to an end, potentially facing 10 years in Russian prison. Griner was caught Feb. 17 at Moscow’s Sheremetytevo Airport with hashish-oil laced vape-cartridges in her luggage. Griner told the court that she never intended to break any Russian drug laws, frankly couldn’t recall how the vape-cartridges got in her luggage. Britney’s story got even more confusing when Blagovolina presented the judge with a prescription for medical marijuana from Arizona. So, Britney’s origninal story fell apart, saying, on the one hand, it was accidental, while, on the other hand, a prescription from a doctor for chronic pain sustained as a WNBA player. So, when it comes to he fate at her trial, the judge isn’t likely to give Britney a free pass for breaking Moscow strict drug laws.
Blogovolina said Britiney was “stressed” about the upcoming end to her trial, not trusting that the Biden White House has a plan to get her out. All the recent talk about a prisoner swap involving Britney, former Marine and convicted spy Paul Whelan and Russian arms smuggler Viktor Bout should give Britney some relief that there’s progress in getting her out of Russia. “She’s of course stressed,” Blagovolina said. “She knowz that the end of the trial is approaching but she really appreciates all the support she’s getting,” said Blagovolina. Whether the judge throws the book at Griner or not, there’s a prisoner swap in the works to get her out. Whether it’s the two for one swap proposed by 59-year-old Secretary of State Antony Blinken, a deal is cooking behind the scenes to spring Britney from Russian jail. Britney was one of WNBA players to protest the U.S. government’s treatment of African Americans.
Griner as labeled “wrongfully detained” by the U.S. government, prompting angry response from Kremlin Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. Zakharova told U.S. officials that it didn’t matter that the U.S. has lax cannabis laws because the banned substance is strictly prohibited in the Russian Federation. Billionaire Tesla Motors CEO Elon Mush tweeted today that the U.S. should do something about the hundreds-of-thousands of U.S. prisoners doing time for marijuana-related offenses. So, when it comes to saying Griner was “wrongfully detained,” Russian authorities resent the accusation that Griner is “wrongfully detained,” since cannabis is strictly prohibited in Russia. Whatever happens at Griner’s trial, the White House put her on high priority to get her out of Russian prison. Whether the deal for convicted arms smuggler Viktor Bout works or not, the government is committed to getting Britney out.
Slowing the prisoner swap from happening more quickly, U.S.-Russian relations is at a post-WW II low, especially with the U.S. supplying lethal arms to Ukraine to fight a proxy war against the Russian Federation. President Joe Biden said March 26 in Warsaw, Poland that he didn’t think Putin should stay in power. Once the White House made that decision, Russian has fought a different strategy in Ukraine. Biden made the Ukraine war personal saying Putin should not remain in power. So, U.S.-Russian relations aren’t in the best place to negotiate a prisoner swap or anything else. Girner finds herself at the mercy of the worst U.S.-Russian relations since the end of WW II, where the Soviet Union implemented a strategy of world domination in response to the massive losses in WW II. No one lost more soldiers and civilians fighting the Nazis in WW II, estimated at 28 million.
Griner’s infraction seems trivial to a lot of folks that think foreign governments should have better things to do. But given the poor state of U.S.-Russian relations, it’s remarkable that Griner has a shot of getting out at all. Never before has the U.S. been in a proxy war against the Russian Federation, hitting U.S.-Russian relations with the wrecking ball. Putin has no reason to negotiate Griner’s release unless he sees some change in the U.S. war in Ukraine against the Russian Federation. Hostage negotiating expert Dani Gilbert at Dartmouth University thinks Britney has become a hostage due the U.S. proxy war in Ukraine. She doesn’t expect the Moscow court to show Griner any mercy when they sentence her in the next few weeks. “The court is receptive,” said Blagovolina. “The court listens. The court accepted already almost all of our evidence, so I think procedurally, [the case] is’ going how we planned,” Blagovolina said, no sure how sentencing would go.
Under normal circumstances where the U.S. government has good relations with Russia, Griner could be expected to get out with an old fashioned prisoner swap. With the U.S. embroiled in a proxy war against the Russian Federation, all bets are off about getting Griner out of jail. Whether the court is receptive to Blagovolina’s arguments, it doesn’t mean Griner will get a lenient sentence. All indications point to a long sentence for the 31-year-old WNBA star. Griner has every reason to be anxious because she could still be months away, if at all, from a prisoner swap. Blagovolina had Giner plead guilty to cannabis possession, putting the facts in the case not in doubt. What’s in doubt is whether the State Department can create enough rapport with the Russian Foreign Ministry to get Griner out. Whatever the deal, it’s clear that the U.S. government will pay a stiff price to get her out.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
