Source: Brittney Griner 'OK,' meeting regularly with lawyers in Russian jail
Brittney Griner is “OK” and her Russian legal team has visited with her multiple times a week over the course of her month-long detention, a person close to the situation told Yahoo Sports.
The American basketball star learned Thursday she will be held behind bars until at least May 19 after her Russian attorney unsuccessfully challenged the legality of her arrest and failed in his attempts to have her transferred to house arrest.
Griner was originally detained after flying into a Moscow airport about a week before Russia’s assault on Ukraine began. She is under investigation for large-scale transportation of drugs and facing up to 10 years in prison after Russian customs officials allegedly found vape cartridges containing hashish oil in her luggage.
[UPDATE: Brittney Griner released from Russian prison 10 months after arrest]
Griner’s pretrial hearing Thursday was the first step in what experts in Russian law say is likely to be a long journey through the country’s legal system. The person close to the situation said the hearing was not about the merits of the case and the denial of Griner’s appeal was “not unexpected.”
A trial date for Griner cannot be set until Russian authorities are done investigating the case. If the investigation is not finished by May 19, another hearing would occur to determine how much longer the court would extend Griner’s detention.
U.S. Rep. Colin Allred told CNN last week that the U.S. Embassy has requested consular access to Griner but has been denied. A spokesperson for the Texas congressman did not return an email from Yahoo Sports seeking confirmation and State Department spokesman Ned Price declined to offer details about Griner’s situation, citing privacy laws.
“We are doing everything we can to support Brittney Griner, to support her family, and to work with them to do everything we can to see that she is treated appropriately and to seek her release,” Price said at a Tuesday news briefing.
A report by Russian state news agency TASS offered an update on Griner’s condition from Ekaterina Kalugina, a human rights activist from Russia’s Public Monitoring Commission. Kalugina told TASS that Griner shares a prison cell with two other women, both of whom are facing drug charges.
For the past six years, Griner has played for European basketball powerhouse UMMC Ekaterinburg to supplement her income during the WNBA offseason. Griner was flying from New York to Moscow last month to rejoin UMMC Ekaterinburg with the Russian league set to resume play after a two-week international break for World Cup qualifying.
The timing of Griner’s arrest has raised concerns her fate could become entangled in the conflict between Russia and the West over the war in Ukraine. A former Pentagon official told Yahoo Sports last week that Griner is at risk of going from criminal defendant to “high-profile hostage” if Russian president Vladimir Putin views her as a potential bargaining chip.
Those close to Griner have mostly stayed silent the past few weeks to avoid further inflaming the situation and drawing Putin’s attention. So while it appears Griner will remain in a Russian prison for at least three months, in some ways the way that her case is proceeding down a legal path is the best-case scenario for her.
“If it becomes political, that’s not going to work to her advantage,” Tom Firestone, a former resident legal adviser at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, told Yahoo Sports last week. “It would be much harder for the prosecutors to reach some sort of plea agreement with her."
