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Topics: US News, Russia, Basketball
Rhiannon Ingle
The American professional basketball player only had 0.7 grams of THC on her person at the time she got detained by Russian authorities.
The WNBA star, 31, was arrested at a Russian airport back in February of this year after Russian police allegedly found cannabis oil cartridges in her luggage, which has now been confirmed to have contained less than a gram of THC.
Following a closed-door preliminary hearing last Monday (27 June), the Phoenix Mercury basketball player's detention was extended for another six months, through to 20 December.
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The 6ft 9in athlete could face 10 years in prison if convicted on charges of large-scale transportation of drugs.
Chargé d’affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, Elizabeth Rood, attended Griner's trial on Wednesday (27 June) and later issued a statement to present reporters.
“I did have the opportunity to speak with Ms. Griner in the courtroom,” Ms. Rood announced.
Ms Rood continued: “She is doing as well as can be expected in these difficult circumstances and asked me to convey that she is in good spirits and is keeping up the faith."
“The Russian Federation has wrongfully detained Ms. Griner,” she concluded, assuring people that “the U.S. government at the very highest levels is working very hard to bring Ms. Griner as well as all wrongfully detained U.S. citizens safely home.”
Griner's wife, Cherelle, spoke to CNN about the situation, revealing that her wife was forced into a 'very, very, very tiny cage' for every five-hour trip to court in Russia,
"It's really, really difficult. This is not a situation where the rhetoric is matching the action," Cherelle began.
She continued: "I do have to unfortunately push people to make sure that the things they're telling me is also matching their actions and so it's been the hardest thing to balance because I can't let up.
It's over 130 days and [Griner]'s still not back," she concluded.
US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, took to Twitter on Friday (1 July) to share his support for Griner.
Blinken mentioned the U.S. Embassy Moscow’s official account and tweeted: "[US Embassy Moscow] officials attended Brittney Griner’s trial today in Moscow. We – and I personally – have no higher priority than bringing her and other wrongfully detained Americans, including Paul Whelan, home. We won’t stop working until they are reunited with their loved ones."