Brittney Griner has been wrongfully detained in Russia for months now since she was arrested back earlier this year for carrying cannabis oil in her luggage.
Russian authorities handed her a nine-year prison sentence for what they called “drug smuggling,” despite her insistence that she accidentally packed it on her way into the country to prepare to play for her Russian club.
Fans everywhere were absolutely devastated when authorities handed the final verdict down. It feels very clear that Griner is being used as a pawn here — she possessed less than a gram of cannabis oil when she was detained.
But, believe it or not, all hope isn’t lost here for Griner.
There’s still a path to bringing her home and reuniting her with her loved ones and it starts now with her sentencing, despite how daunting the task feels.
Let’s dive into what happens next for Griner:
So how can the United State bring Griner home?
There’s no easy path to this at all and it doesn’t come without any pain. But there’s a way for this to happen.
Back in May, Forbes reported the United States and Russia were in the early stages of negotiations for a prisoner swap. Basically, the United States would have Griner freed in exchange for a Russian prisoner. Particularly for a man named Viktor Bout, who is a notorious arms dealer.
“In an effort to free Brittney Griner, the pro basketball star detained in Russia, the Biden administration has offered to swap her for convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout and send him back to Russia, Forbes has learned. Negotiations are in the early stages, according to a non-government source in a position to know.”
That’s not an easy thing to do. Bout isn’t a great guy — he’s known as the “Merchant of Death” and is serving a 25-year prison sentence for selling millions of dollars in weapons to a terror group.
These are the stakes. That’s not anything small.
Wow. That's wild. But if this started weeks ago then why isn't it done?
It’s not quite that simple. This isn’t sports — you don’t just make the call and have it happen. It’s international diplomacy and there’s a lot more that comes with it.
Russia rejected the initial offer when US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made the call to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, per the Associated Press. The United States asked for Griner as well as Paul Whelan, a former Marine who was arrested on espionage charges in Russia back in 2018. In exchange, they’d return Bout to Russia.
Lavrov and Russia rejected the deal and countered with an undisclosed offer.
So if that didn't work, where is the hope?
The deal hasn’t quite gone away yet, according to reporting from ESPN’s TJ Quinn. Russia wanted to nail down a conviction on Griner before negotiations could truly get moving.
Now that they’ve done that, the talks between the two countries can truly start.
"In Brittney Griner's world, this is what was expected. … In a lot of ways, it's the closing of the first chapter and it moves her essentially closer to coming home."
—@TJQuinnESPN pic.twitter.com/XD1wxoF8D1
— ESPN (@espn) August 4, 2022
“It sounds like a lot. But, in Brittney Griner’s world, this was what was expected. It’s what US officials always expected…Russia has made it clear all along that if there’s a deal to be done, which would probably be a prisoner swap between her and someone the United States is holding, it wouldn’t happen until after her trial.”
We have a conviction so now, hopefully, the two sides start talking.
So there really is hope, then
Yes. Obviously, nothing here is guaranteed.
The relationship between Russia and the United States can only be described as antagonistic between the two of them and that’s putting it kindly. No one knows what sort of results this could bring forward.
But now isn’t the time to give up. Brittney Griner can still be returned home. So keep tweeting. Keep talking. Keep the pressure on. It’s not over.
