More than four months after she was first detained, WNBA star Brittney Griner is expected to appear in a Russian courtroom Friday for the start of a drug charges trial that legal experts said would almost certainly end in a conviction despite the trial. screams in the United States for her release.
“There’s a bias, especially because the Russian justice system says they really shouldn’t go to trial unless the defendant is convicted,” said William Pomeranz, the acting director of the Kennan Institute and an expert on Russian law. “There is no real idea or expectation that the suspect could be innocent. There is really no presumption of innocence.”
Russian customs officials said they found vape cartridges with traces of hash oil in Griner’s luggage when she went through a security checkpoint at an airport near Moscow on Feb. 17. The charges against Griner carry a maximum prison sentence of 10 years colony.
Aleksandr Boikov, Griner’s lawyer, said Monday that he expected the trial to begin on Friday and last up to two months.
“We don’t know what evidence they have at this point,” Pomeranz said. “We don’t know how much evidence they want to read in the file, but usually in cases like this it’s formidable and important.”
Griner’s arrest comes at a delicate geopolitical moment during Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine and amid Russia’s tense diplomatic relations with the United States and some European countries. From the beginning of Griner’s arrest, her supporters feared she could be used by Russia during the global conflict.
In May, the US State Department confirmed those concerns by declaring that Griner had been “improperly detained”. That shifted responsibility for the case to the government agency that directs and coordinates the United States’ diplomatic and strategic efforts related to hostage cases abroad.
“Brittney has been classified as wrongfully detained as of April 29, meaning the US government has determined that she is being used as a political pawn and as a result is negotiating her release regardless of the legal process,” Griner’s agent said. Lindsay Kagawa Colas said in an email on Wednesday. “As such, our expectation – including Brittney’s family – remains that President Biden will get a deal to bring her home.”
Griner’s family and supporters are increasingly pleading with President Biden and the US government for Griner’s release.
Kagawa Colas recently coordinated a letter to Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris signed by groups such as the National Organization for Women, the Human Rights Campaign, the National Urban League and the National Action Network. The letter called on the government to negotiate a deal for Griner’s release.
In April, after agreeing to a prisoner exchange, Russia released Trevor Reed, a former US Marine who was sentenced to nine years in prison after he was accused of endangering Russian police officers during an altercation.
Reed’s deteriorating health in Russia most likely played a factor in Moscow’s willingness to release him, said Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon, a Ph.D. student in the history department at the University of Pennsylvania, whose areas of study include African-American experiences in the Soviet Union, Ukraine, and Russia.
“The problem is that, politically, Brittney is worth so much more when it comes to prisoner trafficking than Trevor Reed is because of her profile. So the question will be much bigger, and I think the question they’re telegraphing is in the Russian news for Viktor Bout,” said St. Julian-Varnon, who has consulted with the WNBA players’ union about Griner’s arrest.
Bout, an international arms dealer, was sentenced to 25 years in prison by a US court. Russia also has an interest in the release of Roman Seleznev, a hacker convicted in the United States of running a massive credit card and identity theft and sentenced to 27 years in prison. In addition to Griner, Russia has also detained Paul Whelan, a former US Marine who has been sentenced to 16 years for espionage.
“This is the classic hostage situation dilemma,” said Thomas Firestone, a former Justice Ministry official who worked as a lawyer in Moscow. “If you negotiate the release, you could be encouraging future hostages. If you don’t, the person may never be released.”
Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser, told reporters on Tuesday that he and Secretary of State Antony Blinken had been talking to Griner’s wife, Cherelle Griner, in recent days.
“The United States government is actively working to resolve this matter and get Brittney home,” Sullivan said. He added: “It has the full attention of the president and every senior member of his national security and diplomatic team. And we are actively working to resolve this matter and will continue to do so without rest until we get Brittney home safely.”
On Tuesday, Russia announced that it had banned Biden, the first lady, Jill Biden, and others from entering the country in response to sweeping sanctions. The list included four senators: Republicans Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Susan Collins of Maine and Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand of New York.
“Free Brittney Griner,” Sasse said in a statement. “It’s okay if Putin throws a tantrum and bans Americans from Russia, but we have a problem if he takes an American prisoner.”
What you need to know about Brittney Griner’s detention in Russia
Griner is one of the world’s most decorated basketball players – a seven-time WNBA All-Star, two-time Olympic gold medalist and the first openly gay athlete to sign an endorsement contract with Nike. She traveled to Russia after a two-week break to play for UMMC Yekaterinburg, a powerful professional women’s basketball team.
Updates on Griner have since been scarce and mostly parceled out by Russian state media. According to The Associated Press, Griner has communicated with WNBA colleagues through letters and emails. But Cherelle Griner told The AP that a recently long-scheduled phone call between the two did not take place due to a logistical error at the US embassy in Moscow.
“I find it unacceptable and I don’t have any faith in our government at this point,” Cherelle Griner told The AP in late June. “If I can’t rely on you to get a call outside office hours on Saturdays, how can I trust you to negotiate on my wife’s behalf to come home?”
In a radio interview Wednesday with Rev. Al Sharpton, who is also the founder of the National Action Network, Cherelle Griner said she hadn’t spoken to her wife since February, but had received letters.
“She tells me she’s all right,” Cherelle Griner said of her wife’s letters. “She says, ‘I’m fine, honey. I’m hardened. I’m not me right now. When I get home, it’ll take me a while to get back to myself, but I’ll hold on. I won’t break until I get home I won’t let them break me. I know they try, but I’m going to do my best to hold on until I can get home.’”
Paris Hatcher was further dismayed when she learned of Brittney Griner’s detention being extended Monday and saw a photo of Griner circulated by Russian state media.
“She looks scared,” said Hatcher, whose organization, Black Feminist Future, created a #BringBrittneyHome online campaign: “The important thing about this is that someone has been held. This is about dignity. This is about someone’s humanity. She deserves to be connected to her family.”
The rights of the suspects in Russia are in stark contrast to someone being charged with a crime in the United States, St. Julian-Varnon said.
“You have no right to a jury trial,” said St. Julian-Varnon. “You don’t have the right for your lawyer to call any witnesses they want. The entire case against you and the case you support comes from evidence collected by the state.”
Still, St. Julian-Varnon said she remained cautiously optimistic that Griner would eventually be released, either through a prisoner swap or by being convicted of a lesser charge and agreeing to pay a substantial fine.
“There are a lot of moving pieces,” said St. Julian-Varnon. “I want to stay optimistic because it’s still her life. It’s Brittney’s life. It’s Cherelle’s life.”