Brittney Griner, WNBA Phoenix Mercury star center, will start her criminal trial in Russia on Friday, July 1.
Griner was detained at the Sheremetyevo International Airport near Moscow on Feb. 17, shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine. She was on her way back to Russia to continue playing for UMMC Yekaterinburg, a Russian professional women’s basketball team, during the offseason.
Russian officials claimed Griner was in possession of vape cartridges containing cannabis oil, an illegal act in Russia. She could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
In Griner’s preliminary hearing that took place Monday, the court ruled that she should be detained for another six months pending her trial. Alexander Boikov, her lawyer, told The New York Times her trial may take up to two months, contingent on how busy the court is.
The U.S. Government’s State Department deemed Griner “wrongfully detained” on May 3. An ESPN article about this shift noted, “the change in official designation means that the U.S. government will no longer wait for Griner’s case to play out through the Russian legal system and will seek to negotiate her return.”
The 31-year-old’s agent, Lindsay Kagawa Colas, took to Twitter on Monday to express her thoughts on the government’s decision to make this change.
“Today’s hearing was administrative in nature and not on the merits. That said, the fact remains that the U.S. Government has determined that Brittney Griner is wrongfully detained and being used as a political pawn.”
Some have called for a prisoner swap to get Griner back to the United States. There has been speculation that Griner could be traded in exchange for Russian Viktor Bout, who is serving a 25-year sentence for conspiracy to murder United States citizens and assisting a terrorist organization.
Cherelle Griner, Brittney Griner’s wife, is skeptical of the United States government. Cherelle Griner had a call scheduled to talk to Brittney on June 18 in an attempt to celebrate their anniversary, and the call did not occur. Cherelle, as expected, was upset and disappointed the two did not get to talk to one another.
“I find it unacceptable and I have zero trust in our government right now,” she told the Associated Press. “If I can’t trust you to catch a Saturday call outside of business hours, how can I trust you to actually be negotiating on my wife’s behalf to come home? Because that’s a much bigger ask than to catch a Saturday call.”
As Griner’s trial begins Friday, hopefully she can safely return to the United States in the near future. The WNBA, Cherelle and Griner’s family could not want anything more.
