{"id":12477,"date":"2022-06-16T11:07:45","date_gmt":"2022-06-16T11:07:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/?p=12477"},"modified":"2022-06-16T11:07:45","modified_gmt":"2022-06-16T11:07:45","slug":"brittney-griner-being-used-as-political-pawn-as-russia-extends-imprisonment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/brittney-griner-being-used-as-political-pawn-as-russia-extends-imprisonment\/","title":{"rendered":"Griner Being Used as &#8220;Political Pawn&#8221; As Russia Extends Imprisonment"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/brittney-griner.jpg\" alt=\"Brittney Griner\" title=\"Brittney Griner Being Used as \"Political Pawn\" As Russia Extends Imprisonment\" width=\"300\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-12304\" \/><strong>Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Russia ignores pressure from US and continues to detail WNBA star<\/li>\n<li>Brittney Griner is being used as a political pawn amid the Russia-Ukraine war<\/li>\n<li>Pressure mounts on US to secure her immediate release<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Four months after being arrested at an airport in Russia on drug charges, Women&#8217;s National Basketball Association (WNBA) star <strong>Brittney Griner<\/strong> still stays in prison. <\/p>\n<p>The US State Department in May officially <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/us-says-wnba-star-brittney-griner-has-been-wrongfully-detained-by-russia\/\">classified Griner as &#8220;<em>wrongfully detained<\/em>&#8220;<\/a>, fuelling hopes that the basketball superstar would soon be reunited with her friends and family.<\/p>\n<p>However, with her detention extended again through at least July 2, there are now calls for America&#8217;s top leaders to do whatever it takes to secure her freedom. Griner&#8217;s agent <strong>Lindsay Kagawa Colas<\/strong> took to social media this week to criticize the recent decision by Russian authorities to extend Griner&#8217;s detention for another few weeks, saying it was another proof that Russia was using the athlete as a &#8220;<em>political pawn<\/em>&#8220;. <\/p>\n<p><center><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">and we call on <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@POTUS<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/VP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@VP<\/a> to act with urgency and do whatever it takes to bring Brittney home immediately. [2\/2]<\/p>\n<p>We must fight for BG like family because as an American, she is all of ours. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/WeAreBG?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#WeAreBG<\/a> <\/p>\n<p>Sign the petition to bring her home &gt; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/mcHK15Hzzu\">https:\/\/t.co\/mcHK15Hzzu<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Lindsay Kagawa Colas (she\/her) (@kagawacolas) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/kagawacolas\/status\/1536910699825442817?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 15, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/center><\/p>\n<p>Western countries, led by the US, have imposed major sanctions against Russia for its ongoing invasion of Ukraine, including freezing the country&#8217;s central bank assets and implementing an oil and gas embargo. Griner was arrested in Russia just days before the country began its invasion of Ukraine. <\/p>\n<p>The Phoenix Mercury center&#8217;s detention has been extended thrice already. Russia is said to be using her as a high-profile hostage in response to widespread Western sanctions against the country. America&#8217;s role in the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/2022_Russian_invasion_of_Ukraine\">Russia-Ukraine war<\/a> is also believed to have impacted ongoing negotiations to free her from jail.<\/p>\n<p>When US declared Griner as wrongfully detained in May, there were speculations the 31-year-old could be freed in a detainee swap involving Russian arms dealer <strong>Viktor Buot<\/strong> known as the &#8220;<em>Merchant of Death<\/em>&#8221; who is currently serving 25 years in a US jail.<\/p>\n<p>However, Russia declined the prisoner swap, with <strong>Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov<\/strong> saying a court inquiry into Griner&#8217;s case needed to be completed first before considering such actions.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position:relative;height:0;padding-bottom:56.25%\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/INxUojZmZRI?rel=0&amp;showinfo=0?ecver=2\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"position:absolute;width:100%;height:100%;left:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Biden, Harris Urged to Act Now for Griner&#8217;s Immediate Release<\/h2>\n<p>Describing her detention as &#8220;<em>inhumane and unacceptable<\/em>&#8220;, Kagawa-Colas called on <strong>US President Joe Biden<\/strong> and <strong>Vice President Kamala Harris<\/strong> to act urgently and do anything humanly possible to bring her home. <\/p>\n<p>The WNBA&#8217;s teammates, supporters, family, and friends, have also once again <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/nba-and-wnba-working-for-the-release-brittney-griner-from-russiam-prison\/\">called on the US to secure her freedom<\/a>. The US Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs is overseeing her case, leading the government&#8217;s diplomatic efforts to free her. The same office played a crucial role in securing the release of American citizen <strong>Trevor Reed<\/strong> who was freed via prisoner swap back in April.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Summary Russia ignores pressure from US and continues to detail WNBA star Brittney Griner is being used as a political pawn amid the Russia-Ukraine war Pressure mounts on US to secure her immediate release Four months after being arrested at an airport in Russia on drug charges, Women&#8217;s National Basketball Association (WNBA) star Brittney Griner [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports","category-usa"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.0 - 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