File image of women’s basketball player Brittney Griner.© AFP
President Joe Biden spoke to basketball star Brittney Griner’s wife on Wednesday and told her he is working to secure her husband’s release from Russian detention, the White House said. Two-time Olympic champion Griner – who has been detained in Russia since February – faces up to 10 years in prison on charges of smuggling cannabis vape cartridges into the country. “President Biden, along with Vice President Harris, spoke today with Cherelle Griner, the wife of Brittney Griner who is unjustly held in unbearable conditions in Russia,” the White House said in a statement.
“The president called Cherelle to reassure her that he is working to secure Brittney’s release as soon as possible,” and read her a draft of a letter he is sending to the WNBA star, it added.
Griner, 31, was detained in the days before Russia launched its full-scale attack on Ukraine, after which the United States and its allies imposed unprecedented economic sanctions on Moscow.
Her case has become one of many sticking points in US-Russia relations, with Washington putting its special envoy in charge of hostages on the case.
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Griner had asked Biden to help free her from Russian prison in a handwritten letter presented to the White House on Independence Day.
“I realize you’re dealing with so much, but don’t forget about me and the other American inmates,” Griner wrote. “Please do everything you can to take us home.”
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