After weeks in Russian custody, questions remain on Brittney Griner's whereabouts

[Jilly_in_VA]

The American basketball star who was arrested in Russia on allegations of drug smuggling was detained February 17, a US congressman's office said Thursday, providing the most detailed public account yet of how long Brittney Griner has been in custody.

And US efforts to get Griner out of Russia are complicated by strained relations between the two countries -- a deterioration exacerbated by Russia's war with Ukraine, the lawmaker, US Rep. Colin Allred, told ESPN a day earlier.

"I do think that it's really unusual that we've not been granted access to her from our embassy and our consular services," Allred, D-Texas, told ESPN on Wednesday.

"The Russian criminal justice system is very different than ours, very opaque. We don't have a lot of insight into where she is in that process right now, but she's been held for three weeks now, and that's extremely concerning," Allred said.

News of Griner's arrest broke in the US last weekend, with Russian media reporting she was detained at a Moscow airport on some unspecified day in February. Allred's office has been working with the US State Department and learned she was detained February 17, he told ESPN. His office confirmed that date to CNN on Thursday.
Many details still are in question, including precisely where Griner is now.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/10/world/brittney-griner-arrest-russia-thursday/index.html
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Please lay off "She shouldn't have been" etc. and focus on what Russia is doing to a Black gay American woman. They are using her as a political hostage and won't even say where she is.

[OAITW r.2.0]

1. This question front and center. Free Brittney.

She went to Russia to promtote the game and goodwill. She's being held because:

(1) She's a woman
(2) She's Black
(3) She is gay
(4) She's American

Hey, Mike Pence,,,,instead of surveying the damage your policies created - for a cheap photo-op. why don't you demand her release? A hi-profile demand that Putin release Ms. Griner now,,,,because only criminal thugs hold hostages. Or isn't she American enough for you?

[Irish_Dem]

2. (4) She's American

[OAITW r.2.0]

3. Added,

[Irish_Dem]

4. ...

[PoliticAverse]

5. She didn't go to Russia to "promote the game and goodwill"...

She's a paid player on one of the teams owned by one of the Russian oligarchs. She's paid $ 1 million/season to play there.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UMMC_Ekaterinburg

[Jilly_in_VA]

7. And so?

Lots of American players have played in Russia, including, among others, Candace Parker. Who is now married to a woman, BTW. And stopped playing overseas because it interfered too much with her daughter's schooling after a certain age. Pro athletes generally have a fairly short playing life.

Next?

[Brother Buzz]

6. US embassy in Moscow finds Brittney Griner 'in good condition' after getting consular access

US embassy in Moscow finds Brittney Griner ‘in good condition’ after getting consular access


By Veronica Stracqualursi, CNN
Published 11:20 AM EDT, Wed March 23, 2022
—
An official from the US embassy in Moscow found US basketball player Brittney Griner to be “in good condition,” after they were recently granted consular access to the American athlete who is being detained in Russia, US State Department spokesman Ned Price told CNN on Wednesday.

The embassy official was granted consular access to Griner on Tuesday, according to Price, the first official government access given to Griner since she had been detained by Russia since mid-February.

“We were able to check on her condition, we will continue to work very closely with her legal team, with her broader network, to see to it that she is treated fairly,” Price told CNN’s Poppy Harlow.

“Our official found Brittney Griner to be in good condition and we will continue to do everything we can to see to that it she is treated fairly throughout this ordeal,” he added.

Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and player for the WBNA’s Phoenix Mercury, was arrested in February at a Moscow airport and accused by Russian authorities of smuggling significant amounts of a narcotic substance. – an offense punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

A Moscow court last week extended the arrest of Griner until May 19, according to Russian news agency TASS.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/23/politics/brittney-griner-russia-detainment/index.html?utm_content=2022-03-23T15%3A57%3A05&utm_source=twCNNp&utm_term=link&utm_medium=social