President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris spoke Wednesday with Cherelle Griner, wife of WNBA star Brittney Griner. Brittney Griner has been detained in Russia on drug charges since February, and her trial starts on friday.
During the call, Biden read a draft of a letter he intended to send to Brittney Griner.
“The President offered to support Cherelle and Brittney’s families and pledged to ensure they were provided with all possible assistance while his administration pursued every avenue to bring Brittney home,” according to a statement. White House statement.
The US State Department said in May that Brittney Griner had “wrongfully detained. “It will work to ensure her release regardless of the outcome of the trial.
“I am grateful to both for the time they have given me and the commitment they have shown in bringing BG home,” Cherelle Griner said of Biden and Harris in a statement to The New York Times on Wednesday.
Brittney Griner has been detained in Russia since February 17, accused by Russian authorities of having a vape box with hash oil in her luggage at an airport near Moscow. In Monday, Brittney Griner sent a handwritten letter to Biden begged for his help.
“I am terribly afraid that I may be here forever,” Griner said in an excerpt from the letter shared by her representatives. She continued: “I realize that you are facing a lot of things, but please don’t forget about me and other detained Americans. Do all you can to bring us home.”
In her statement, Cherelle Griner thanked her wife’s supporters.
“While I will remain concerned and candid until she returns home, I am hopeful to hear that the president has read my wife’s letter and took the time to respond,” Cherelle Griner said. “I know BG will be able to find solace knowing she hasn’t been forgotten.”
Wednesday’s statement from the White House described Brittney Griner as “wrongfully detained in Russia under intolerable circumstances.”
It also said that Biden had instructed his national security team to stay “in regular contact” with the Griner family and that Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser, had said. chatted with Cherelle Griner recently.
Over the past few weeks, Cherelle Griner has openly expressed disappointment with Biden and his administration’s efforts to secure his wife’s release.
On Tuesday, Cherelle Griner appeared on “CBS Mornings” and spoke of her disappointment that Brittney Griner’s family had not received a reply from the president to Brittney Griner’s letter.
“I will no longer be silent,” said Cherelle Griner. “My wife is having a hard time, and we have to help her.”
The women could only communicate with each other through letters. In June, Cherelle Griner told the Associated Press that a scheduled call with Brittney Griner was never made to her because of personnel issues at the US Embassy in Moscow. She said she had not spoken to her wife since the day she was detained.
Experts say that Brittney Griner’s trial is likely to end in a grand case. She faces 10 years in prison if convicted.
“There is a bias mainly because the Russian justice system says they really shouldn’t go to trial unless the accused is about to be prosecuted,” said William Pomeranz, acting director of the Kennan Institute and an expert on Russian law. judge. “There was no real idea or expectation that the defendant could be innocent. No presumption of innocence, really. “
One way to secure the release of an American held abroad is a prisoner swap, which experts say is the most likely scenario for Griner’s release.
A Kremlin spokesman was denied that Brittney Griner’s detention was politically motivatedbut The Russian media have linked Griner’s case to that of Viktor Bout, A Russian arms dealer is serving a 25-year federal prison sentence.
Trevor Reed, a former US Marine, has been incarcerated in Russia ever since August 2019released in a prisoner swap April. Reed was sentenced to nine years in prison July 2020.
In Wednesday’s statement, Cherelle Griner asked for prayers for her family and the families of others wrongly detained.
“Our grief will remain until our loved ones are brought home,” she said. “Let us continue to use our voices to speak the names of all Americans wrongly detained and support the authorities as they do what is necessary to bring them home today.”
The U.S. State Department has warned Americans against traveling to Russia because of the war in Ukraine, “the possibility of Russian government security officials harassing U.S. citizens” and “the arrest of Russian government security officials.” detention of U.S. citizens in Russia, including detention,” among other reasons.
Griner in Russia because she plays for UMMC Yekaterinburg, a team known as one of the highest-paid women’s basketball teams in the world. She earns more there than playing for the WNBA
Griner has played for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury since her first overall draft franchise in 2013. She won the WNBA championship in 2014 and has won two gold medals with the basketball team. United States national women.
After Griner’s detention, her supporters were initially advised not to pay too much attention to the situation in the hope that her detention would not be politicized. Russia has long had an icy relationship with the United States, and it invaded Ukraine shortly after Griner was detained.
But when the US State Department said in May that Griner had been wrongfully arrested, that strategy changed. Cherelle Griner, WNBA officials and WNBA players spoke out. WNBA teams are honoring Griner this season with decals featuring her initials and jersey number, 42, on each of the league’s 12 courts.
In June, while in Washington to play the game, members of the Mercury met with State Department officials and members of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs.. They also met with representatives Greg Stanton, Democrat of Arizona; Sheila Jackson Lee, Democrat of Texas; and Colin Allred, Democrat of Texas, who introduced a resolution calling for Griner’s release.
