Experts have warned that Vladimir Putin could use basketball player Brittney Griner as a pawn in the ongoing tension surrounding the Ukraine war after Russia released a new video of the athlete arrested last month near Moscow.
Ms Griner can be seen in the video placing her luggage for security check at the airport, as officials start to check the contents of her bags.
The footage was released on Saturday after the Russian Federal Customs Service announced that the 31-year-old basketball player was arrested at the Sheremetyevo Alexander S Pushkin International Airport some time last month after vape cartridges containing hashish oil were allegedly found in her bag.
Ms Griner plays for the Women’s National Basketball Association team Phoenix Mercury as well as the Russian basketball club UMMC Ekaterinburg. She is also a two-time Olympic gold medalist.
If convicted on drug smuggling charges, Ms Griner faces up to 10 years in a Russian prison.
The basketball player’s arrest comes amid tensions with US over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February. Experts have warned that Ms Griner may be used by Russia as a “pawn” to build pressure on the US.
“Russia hasn’t been the most forthright of nations, and we’re currently in a climate where Russia has been manufacturing stories to justify its invasion of Ukraine,” Adrienne Lawrence, a California attorney and legal commentator for The Young Turks said, according to the Business Insider.
“So I really wouldn’t put past Russia to manufacture a story about an athlete who’s from the United States.”
Her arrest also led to outrage on social media with many others also suspecting that the player was being used as leverage by Russia.
“They wanted us, in terms of the American people, to know that they had her,” Ms Lawrence said. “If it wasn’t a big deal, if she just had this contraband on her and they were pursuing charges so on and so forth, they would’ve disclosed the information weeks ago.”
Ms Griner is suspected to have been in custody for a few weeks before her arrest was made public.
On Sunday, Ms Griner’s wife Cherelle thanked supporters for their wishes and pleaded for her safe return to the US.
The WNBA has released a statement saying that they are working to secure Ms Griner’s release.
On Sunday, US secretary of state Antony Blinken also commented on her arrest and said: “Whenever an American is detained anywhere in the world, we of course stand ready to provide every possible assistance.”
“And that includes in Russia.”
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