MOSCOW (AP) — Lawyers for American basketball player Brittney Griner filed an appeal against her 9-year Russian jail term for cocaine use on Monday, according to Russian news outlets.
Griner, a two-time Olympic gold winner and centre for the Phoenix Mercury, was convicted on Aug. 4. She was detained at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport in February when vape canisters carrying cannabis oil were discovered in her luggage.
During the WNBA offseason, Griner played for a women’s basketball team in Yekaterinburg.
On Monday, Russian news sources cited lawyer Maria Blagovolina as stating the appeal had been lodged, although the reasons of the appeal were not immediately clear.
After the conviction, Blagovolina and co-counsel Alexander Boykov stated that the sentence was disproportionate and that in similar cases, offenders got an average term of roughly five years, with about a third of them given parole.
Griner confessed to having the canisters in her luggage, but said she had packed them in haste and had no illegal intent. Her defence team produced written statements indicating that she had been administered cannabis for pain relief.
Griner was unlawfully held, according to the US State Department, prior to her conviction.
In July, Secretary of State Antony Blinken took the extraordinary step of publicly declaring that the U. S.
Griner, together with Paul Whelan, an American serving a 16-year term in Russia for espionage, had made a considerable proposal to return home. He did not clarify, but the Associated Press and other news outlets reported that the U. S. Viktor Bout, a Russian arms trader serving a 25-year term in the United States, has asked to be released. S. and was once known as the Merchant of Death.
A senior Russian ambassador stated on Sunday that exchange discussions had taken place.
The exchange of convicted Russian and US nationals is being negotiated through the channels established by our presidents. These people are actually being discussed. The Russian side has long sought Viktor Bout’s release. The intricacies should be left to specialists, according to Alexander Darchiev, head of the foreign ministry’s North America section, according to Russian news agency Tass.
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Griner’s Russian jail sentence is being appealed by lawyers.
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