US’ Women’s National Basketball Association (NBA) basketball player Brittney Griner, who was detained at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport and later charged with illegal possession of cannabis, stands inside a defendants’ cage before a court hearing in Khimki outside Moscow, on August 4, 2022.
Evgenia Novozhenina | AFP | Getty Images
WASHINGTON — A Russian court will hear WNBA star Brittney Griner’s appeal on Tuesday after the American athlete was convicted on drug charges earlier this year.
Griner’s lawyers told NBC News before the hearing that the two-time Olympic gold medalist is “quite pessimistic” that the judge will overrule the court’s original verdict.
“She hopes there will be some reduction in her sentence,” Maria Blagovolina, Griner’s lawyer, told Andrea Mitchell of NBC News, adding the 32-year-old athlete will appear in court via video conference.
Griner, who plays professional basketball in Russia during the WNBA offseason, was arrested in February after Russian authorities found vape canisters containing cannabis oil in her luggage at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport.
Her lawyers said Griner only uses cannabis medically and unintentionally packed the cannabis canisters in her suitcase because the professional athlete was in a hurry.
Under Russian law, the charge carried a penalty of up to 10 years in prison. In August, Griner was found guilty and sentenced to nine years. She was also ordered to pay 1 million rubles, approximately $16,301.
The court’s decision came as the Biden administration scrambled to secure her release.
A week before the verdict, the Biden administration confirmed it made an offer to the Russian government for the release of Griner and the former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan.
‘I’m terrified I might be here forever’
US WNBA basketball superstar Brittney Griner stands inside a defendants’ cage before a hearing at the Khimki Court, outside Moscow on July 26, 2022.
Alexander Zemlianichenko | AFP | Getty Images
Days before she pleaded guilty last month, Griner wrote a letter to President Joe Biden asking for his direct help with her case.
“I sit here in a Russian prison, alone with my thoughts and without the protection of my wife, family, friends, Olympic jersey, or any accomplishments, I’m terrified I might be here forever,” the professional athlete wrote in a July 5 letter.
“I realize you are dealing with so much, but please don’t forget about me and … other American detainees. Please do all you can to bring us home,” Griner wrote.
After receiving the letter, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris called the WNBA star’s wife, Cherelle Griner. Biden also wrote a response to Griner that U.S. diplomats hand-delivered in Moscow.
Biden reassured her wife that he is working to secure Griner’s release as soon as possible, according to a White House readout of the call. He also told Cherelle Griner that he is working to release Whelan, who is serving a 16-year sentence in Russia.
Whelan was arrested in 2018 on charges of acting as a spy…
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