Jim Heintz, The Associated Press Posted Monday, 27 June 2022 10:04 EDT Last Updated on Monday, 27 June 2022 10:05 EDT
MOSCOW (AP) – More than four months after being arrested at a Moscow airport for possession of cannabis, a Russian court has set the date for the start of the criminal trial against American basketball star Brittney Griner for ‘July 1st.
The Phoenix Mercury star was also ordered to remain in custody for the duration of his criminal trial. She could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted of large-scale drug charges. Less than 1% of defendants in Russian criminal cases are acquitted and, unlike the US, acquittals can be overturned.
On Monday, the court in the Moscow suburb of Khimki extended Griner’s detention for another six months after she appeared in a closed-door preliminary hearing. The photos obtained by the AP showed that she appeared handcuffed. Earlier, Griner had been ordered to remain in pretrial detention until July 2.
Griner’s arrest and trial reach an extraordinarily low point in Moscow-Washington relations. She was arrested at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport less than a week before Russia sent troops to Ukraine, aggravating already high tensions with widespread US sanctions and Russia’s denunciation of arms supplies. from the US to Ukraine.
Amid tensions, Griner’s supporters had been low-profile in hopes of a peaceful solution, until May, when the State Department reclassified her as unjustly detained and shifted oversight of her. case to his special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, effectively the head of the U.S. government. negotiator.
This move has drawn more attention to the Griner case, with supporters pushing for an exchange of prisoners such as the one brought home by Navy veteran Trevor Reed in April in exchange for a Russian pilot convicted of drug trafficking conspiracy.
Russian media have repeatedly raised speculation that it could be traded by Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, nicknamed “The Merchant of Death,” who is serving a 25-year sentence for convicting for conspiring to kill American citizens and for help a terrorist organization. .
Russia has been demanding Bout’s release for years. But the discrepancy between Griner’s case was allegedly found in possession of vape cartridges containing cannabis oil, and Bout’s global dealings with deadly weapons could make this exchange unpleasant for the United States.
Others have suggested it could be negotiated along with Paul Whelan, a former director of navy and security serving a 16-year sentence for an espionage conviction the United States has repeatedly described as a facility.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken asked CNN on Sunday if a joint Griner and Whelan exchange for Bout was being considered, eluding the question.
“As a general proposal … I have no higher priority than to make sure that Americans who are being illegally detained in one way or another around the world come home,” he said. But “I can’t comment in detail on what we’re doing, except to say that’s an absolute priority.”
Apparently, any exchange would first require Griner to be convicted and convicted, and then seek a presidential pardon, Maria Yarmush, a lawyer specializing in international civil affairs, told the Kremlin-funded RT television channel.