A Russian court on Tuesday dismissed an appeal by US basketball star Brittney Griner against her nine-year sentence on drug charges, ignoring her request for a reduced “traumatic” sentence.
The court in Krasnogorsk, near Moscow, ruled to leave Griner’s August verdict “unchanged” in the case, which came amid high tensions between Moscow and Washington over Russia’s military offensive in Ukraine.
President Joe Biden’s administration dismissed the verdict as “another sham trial” that would keep Griner “wrongly imprisoned in intolerable circumstances” and vowed to continue to press for her release.
“The President has shown that he is willing to go to extraordinary lengths and make difficult decisions to bring Americans home,” US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said in a statement.
Griner had pleaded for a reduction in sentences via video link from her detention center on the outskirts of the Russian capital.
“I really hope that the court will adjust this ruling because it was very, very stressful and very traumatic,” Griner said.
The 32-year-old was sentenced to nine years in prison in August for possessing vape cartridges containing a small amount of cannabis oil after she was arrested at a Moscow airport in February.
Griner spoke slowly so that her words could be translated into Russian and asked the court for leniency as the quantity of cannabis found was “barely in excess of substantial”.
“I don’t understand the first court’s decision to give a year less than the maximum when I’ve been here almost eight months and people with more serious crimes got less than I got,” she said.
“So I’m simply asking the court… to reassess my sentence.”
– Don’t expect “miracles” –
Griner’s attorneys said they were disappointed with Tuesday’s decision because it went against standard legal practice.
“Other defendants in similar criminal cases will be punished in the form of a suspended sentence or a prison term of up to six years,” Maria Blagovolina and Alexander Boykov said in a statement.
“Brittney Griner remains one of the most severely sentenced defendants in Russia.”
Lawyers said Griner is physically fine and that she spoke to her family on her birthday last week, but Tuesday’s decision was difficult for Griner.
“She had some hopes and those hopes are gone today,” Blagovolina reportedly told outside the courthouse.
Lawyers hope to speak with Griner later this week about continuing to appeal the verdict in higher courts.
When she was arrested, the two-time basketball gold medalist and NBA women’s champion was in Russia to play in her offseason from the Phoenix Mercury Women’s National Basketball Association team for the Yekaterinburg professional team.
She pleaded guilty to the charges but said she had no intention of breaking the law or using the banned substance in Russia.
Griner had testified that she had permission from a US doctor to use medicinal cannabis to relieve the pain of her many injuries and that she had never failed a drug test.
The use of medical marijuana is not allowed in Russia.
In August, Moscow said it was ready to discuss a prisoner swap for Griner, but there was no apparent progress.
Griner and another American jailed in Russia, Paul Whelan – a former US Marine arrested in December 2018 and accused of espionage – could reportedly be traded for Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer who was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2012 .
