U.S. Embassy Officials in Russia Recently Met with Brittney Griner

U.S. Embassy Officials in Russia Recently Met with Brittney Griner

WNBA star Brittney Griner, who is jailed in Russia after being given a nine-year prison sentence for drug possession met with U.S. Embassy officials last week.

According to a Twitter post released on Thursday by State Department Spokesperson Ned Price, officials from the U.S. Embassy in Moscow met with the imprisoned basketball player.

.@USEmbRU officials visited Brittney Griner today. They saw firsthand her tenacity and perseverance despite her present circumstances. We continue to press for the immediate release of Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan and fair treatment for every detained American.

— Ned Price (@StateDeptSpox) November 3, 2022

People also reported that the White House confirmed the meeting as well.

“The State Department just confirmed that U.S. Embassy officials in Moscow were able to visit Brittney Griner today,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at a press briefing last week.

She also stated that they are trying to resolve what authorities consider a wrongful detention of Griner and also added they are also trying to negotiate for another imprisoned American, Paul Whelan.

“As we have said before, the U.S. government made a significant offer to the Russians to resolve the current unacceptable and wrongful detentions of American citizens Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan.”

Last month, BLACK ENTERPRISE reported that, according to NBA.com, Griner had her appeal rejected as the court upheld the sentence given to her. The WNBA All-Star American basketball player was convicted on Aug. 4 after authorities in Russia said vape canisters that had cannabis oil in them were discovered in her luggage at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport.

The Moscow region court ruled against her appeal as they ruled in favor of upholding the sentence imposed on Griner.

The ruling from the court stated that the time Griner spent waiting for her trial in pre-trial detention will now be counted as 1.5 days in prison. That reduced her prison time to about eight years instead of the nine she was sentenced to.

In negotiations with Russia, the United States offered a prisoner exchange in hopes of having Briner return to America. They have allegedly offered to send a Russian arms dealer, Viktor Bout, nicknamed the “merchant of death” in exchange for Briner and Paul Whelan, who is an American serving a 16-year sentence in Russia for espionage.

U.S. Embassy Officials in Russia Recently Met with Brittney Griner