American basketball star Brittney Griner will have her appeal against a nine-year prison sentence for drug possession heard by a Russian court later this month.
Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, was convicted on 4 August after being arrested in February at a Moscow airport when vape canisters containing cannabis oil were discovered in her luggage.
The athlete, who had been playing for a women’s basketball team in Yekaterinburg, admitted that she had the canisters in her bags, but said she packed them accidentally and had no criminal intent.
Now her appeal will be heard by the Moscow region court on 25 October, according to the Associated Press.
Her lawyers said after her conviction that the sentence was excessive and that defendants in similar cases have received an average sentence of about five years, with about a third of them granted parole.
Before the sentencing, the US State Department said that Griner had been “wrongfully detained” by Russia.
The Biden administration has also said that it has held talks with Moscow to get Griner and fellow American prisoner Paul Whelan, who is serving 16 years for alleged espionage, returned to the US.
An exchange deal has reportedly been proposed that would see “Merchant of Death” arms dealer Viktor Bout, who is serving a 25-year prison sentence in the US, returned to Russia.
In the wake of Griner’s conviction, WNBA players are skipping playing in Russia this winter, where they can be paid salaries of more than $1m, and instead taking lower paychecks in countries such as Turkey and Spain.
Last month Griner’s family met with Joe Biden and thanked him for his efforts to bring her home.
“I want to thank President Biden for yesterday’s meeting as well as the Administration for its efforts to secure my wife’s release,” Cherelle Griner, Brittney’s wife, wrote in the caption of an Instagram post with a photo of herself and the president.
“It was an honour to speak with him directly about the Brittney we know and love. I’ve felt every minute of the gruelling seven months without her. I look forward to the day my wife is back home.”
