United States
United Kingdom
Summary
- Brittney Griner appealed her 9 year prison sentence on Oct 25
- A Moscow Court rejected her appeal and upheld her prison sentence
- U.S government calls the appeal another sham judicial proceeding
The basketball star Brittney Griner celebrated her 32nd birthday in a Russian jail cell after she was sentenced earlier this year to a 9 year prison sentence for bringing in vape containers that had hashish oil which is illegal in Russia.
Griner decided to appeal the 9 year prison term with her legal representative Lindsay Colas set for a hearing to be heard for October 26.
During the virtual hearing, Griner begged the court to be lenient towards her and reduce her jail time. This was the second time that Griner had decided to appeal the mercy of the Russian court.
The first time she did this was back in July when she pleaded guilty to bringing in drugs into the Sheremetyevo International Airport in Khimki on Feb 17. Griner informed the courts that she did not intentionally smuggle drugs but brought it on her for personal use since vaping hashish oil is legal in many states in America.
Griner decided to plead guilty instead of fight the charges as she was informed Russian courts were more lenient to those who plead guilty. However, she ended up getting a harsh prison sentence of 9 years. During her second appeal on Oct 25, Griner and her defense informed the courts that there were a number of other individuals who committed lesser offenses and were handed out shorter sentences.
Griner told the court that she was traumatized and would really like to go back to America and be with her family. However, the court decided to ignore her pleas and defense and uphold the 9 year prison sentence much to her disappointment.
U.S Gov. Labels It A Sham Judicial Proceeding
Lindsay Colas said that the decision to uphold the 9 year prison sentence was disappointing but not surprising as they suspect that Russia is using the WNBA star as a political pawn against the United States.
The U.S Government who is carefully following the Griner case released a statement soon after the Russian court upheld the 9 year prison term. Jake Sullivan who is the National Security Advisor for the Biden Government called it another sham judicial proceeding!
