-
American basketball star Brittney Griner returned to the United States early Friday after being freed in a high-profile prisoner exchange following nearly 10 months in detention in Russia.
-
In a tweet, President Biden said the jailed WNBA star was on her way home
-
The U.S. basketball star was transferred to a prison colony in Mordovia — 300 miles southeast of Moscow — to begin serving out a nine-year sentence on drug charges.
-
Maria Alyokhina was sent to a penal colony as a member of the feminist punk collective. Authorities "teach you how to forget your right to choose," she says. She urges Griner "to not forget yourself."
-
Griner has been moved from a detention center outside of Moscow and is being sent to a Russian penal colony to begin serving out her nine-year sentence on drug smuggling charges, her lawyers said.
-
The decision effectively sends Griner to serve out her nine-year term in a Russian prison colony, even as the U.S. and Russia appear set to reengage in talks for a possible prisoner swap.
-
President Biden has said Griner and Whelan are wrongfully detained in Russia. Griner, a WNBA star, was convicted of marijuana possession, and Whelan, an ex-Marine, was convicted of espionage.
-
The ruling came nearly six months after Griner was detained. Russia has indicated that any potential deal or prisoner swap to secure her release would have to wait until after a verdict in her case.
-
Bout is a Russian who was the world's most notorious arms dealer in the 1990s and early 2000s. He was serving a 25-year prison sentence in Illinois before being freed as part of a U.S.-Russia swap.
-
The U.S. has offered a deal to Russia aimed at bringing home WNBA star Brittney Griner and another jailed American, Paul Whelan, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday.
-
The WNBA star admitted to bringing cannabis into Russia but said she had packed in a hurry and did not intend to break the law. If convicted, she could face up to 10 years in prison.
-
Griner, 31, is "a bit worried" because of the trial and the potential of a prison sentence, he lawyer tells NPR, "but she's a tough lady and I think she will manage."