American basketball star Brittney Griner was launched from a Russian jail in a swap for an arms seller after negotiations. Griner was arrested in Russia on drug prices.
Brittney Griner is a two-time Olympic gold medalist, WNBA champion and LGBT trailblazer. (Photo: AFP)
By Agence France-Presse: American basketball star Brittney Griner was launched from a Russian jail on Thursday in a swap for an arms seller generally known as the “Merchant of Death” after what President Joe Biden known as “painstaking and intense” negotiations.
Griner, 32, who was arrested in Russia in February on drug prices, and Viktor Bout, 55, who was serving a 25-year sentence in a US jail, had been exchanged at an airport in Abu Dhabi.
In footage launched by Russian state media, Griner, shorn of her distinctive dreadlocks, and a relaxed and animated Bout might be seen crossing paths on the airport tarmac and heading in the direction of the planes that will take them residence.
Biden introduced Griner’s launch in an deal with to the nation on the White House. “She is safe. She is on a plane. She is on her way home,” he stated.
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The president stated he had spoken to her and he or she was in “good spirits” after struggling “needless trauma.”
Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, WNBA champion and LGBT trailblazer, was arrested at a Moscow airport 9 months in the past in opposition to a backdrop of hovering tensions over Ukraine.
She was accused of possession of vape cartridges with a small amount of hashish oil and sentenced in August to 9 years in jail.
Bout, who was accused of arming rebels in a few of the world’s bloodiest conflicts, was detained in a US sting operation in Thailand in 2008, extradited to the United States and sentenced in 2012 to 25 years behind bars.
While Griner’s household and associates celebrated her launch, one other American held in Russia, Paul Whelan, a former US Marine detained in 2018 and accused of spying, was not a part of Thursday’s change and he advised CNN he was “greatly disappointed.”
“I don’t understand why I’m still sitting here,” Whelan advised the US tv community in a cellphone name from the Russian penal colony the place he’s imprisoned.
Biden pledged to acquire Whelan’s freedom, saying “we will never give up.”
“Sadly, for totally illegitimate reasons, Russia is treating Paul’s case different than Brittney’s,” he stated.
As for Griner’s launch, Biden stated “this is a day we’ve worked toward for a long time. It took painstaking and intense negotiations.”
FAMILY IS WHOLE
Biden made the announcement flanked by Griner’s spouse, Cherelle Griner, Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
“I’m just standing here, overwhelmed with emotions,” Cherelle Griner stated.
She additionally acknowledged Whelan’s destiny, saying: “Today my family is whole, but as you all are aware there’s so many other families who are not whole.”
WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert stated there was a “collective wave of joy and relief” within the girls’s skilled league the place the 6’9″ (2.06 meter) Griner has been a star for a decade with the Phoenix Mercury.
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Biden thanked the United Arab Emirates for helping “facilitate” Griner’s release and the UAE issued a joint statement with Saudi Arabia saying it was the result of “mediation efforts” by leaders of the two Arab nations.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, however, there was “no mediation concerned” and “the one nations that negotiated this deal had been the United States and Russia.”
“We are grateful to the UAE… for facilitating using their territory for the change to happen,” Jean-Piere said, and to other countries such as Saudi Arabia for raising the issue of detained Americans with Russia.
RESCUE OUR COMPATRIOT
At the time of her arrest, Griner had been playing for a professional team in Russia, as a number of WNBA players do in the off-season.
She pleaded guilty to the charges against her, but said she did not intend to break the law or use the banned substance in Russia.
Griner testified that she had permission from a US doctor to use medicinal cannabis to relieve pain from her many injuries.
The use of medical marijuana is not allowed in Russia.
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The Russian foreign ministry said it had been negotiating with Washington to secure Bout’s release “for a very long time” and that initially the United States had “refused dialogue” on including him in any swap.
“Nevertheless, the Russian Federation continued to actively work to rescue our compatriot,” it said. “The Russian citizen has been returned to his homeland.”
The 2005 film “Lord of War” starring Nicolas Cage was based in part on Bout’s arms trafficking exploits and he has been the subject of several books and TV shows.
Asked about Bout’s release, a senior US defense official said “there’s a concern that he would return to doing the identical sort of work that he is accomplished prior to now.”
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Published On:
Dec 9, 2022
