Closing arguments inside Brittney Griner's medicine instance inside Russia
MOSCOW (AP) — Closing arguments inside Brittney Griner's cannabis ownership instance inside Russia are place for Thursday, almost sextet months following the American basketball celestial body was arrested at a Moscow airfield inside a instance that has reached the highest levels of U.S.-Russia diplomacy.
Griner faces up to 10 years inside prison if convicted. Although a declaration of guilt appears almost certain, specified that Russian courts rarely acquit defendants with every one other accompanied by Griner has acknowledged that there were vape canisters accompanied by cannabis lubricant inside her luggage, judges have considerable latitude on sentencing.
Lawyers for the Phoenix Mercury center with every one other accompanied by two-time Olympic gold medal medalist have pursued strategies to bolster Griner's contention that she had no indeed criminal intent with every one other accompanied by that the canisters ended up inside her luggage due to hasty packing. They have presented personality witnesses from the Russian team that she plays for inside the WNBA off-season with every one other accompanied by written testimony from a physician who said he prescribed her cannabis for suffering treatment.
It's not understandable when the verdict will exist announced. If she does not go free, observation will turn to the high-stakes possibility of a convict swap.
Before her trial began inside July, the State Department designated her while "wrongfully detained," moving her instance under the supervision of its exceptional presidential envoy for hostage affairs, effectively the government's leader hostage negotiator.
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Then last week, inside an extraordinary move, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, urging him to receive a deal under which Griner with every one other accompanied by Paul Whelan, an American imprisoned inside Russia on an espionage conviction, would go free.
The Lavrov-Blinken call marked the highest-level known touch in the centre of Washington with every one other accompanied by Moscow since Russia sent troops into Ukraine additional than five months ago. The straight outreach over Griner is at likelihood accompanied by U.S. efforts to isolate the Kremlin.
People familiar accompanied by the proposal speak it envisions trading Griner with every one other accompanied by Whelan for the notorious arms trader Viktor Bout. It underlines the condition pressure that the White House has faced to obtain Griner released.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Monday that Russia has made a "bad faith" response to the U.S. government's offer, a counteroffer that American officials don't believe concerning while serious. She declined to elaborate.
Russian officials have scoffed at U.S. statements concerning the case, saying they show a disrespect for Russian law. They remained poker-faced, urging Washington to talk over the matter into and not here of "quiet diplomacy lacking releases of speculative information."
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