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Brittney Griner's detention in Russia extended through at least July 2.

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Brittney Griner's detention in Russia extended through at least July 2, Russian state news reports​


Brittney Griner latest: Phoenix Mercury get State Dept. briefing and Hall of Famer calls for release​

US basketball star Brittney Griner -- who has been held in Russia since February on accusations of drug smuggling will remain in Russian custody through at least July 2, after a Russian court extended her detention, Russian state news agency TASS reported Tuesday. Griner, 31, has been officially classified as "wrongfully detained," a US State Department official told CNN in May. Griner was arrested at a Moscow airport in February, when Russian authorities claimed she had cannabis oil in her luggage and accused her of smuggling significant amounts of a narcotic substance, an offense punishable by up to 10 years in prison. The two-time Olympic gold medalist and star of the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury plays in Russia during that league's offseason."We are on Day 116 since BG has been wrongfully detained," Mercury head coach Vanessa Nygaard said, adding, "She's our teammate, she's an American and we want her back home." For star guard Diana Taurasi, the State Department's announcement that Griner's detention was wrongful signaled to the team that officials are taking the situation seriously, she said Monday.

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Congressman Colin Allred Says U.S. 'Actively Negotiating' W/ Russia For Brittney Griner​


Congressman Colin Allred tells TMZ Sports the U.S. is calling Brittney Griner "basically a political prisoner" now in Russia and says because of it, government officials have formally begun negotiations with the foreign country to bring the WNBA superstar home.We spoke with the representative out on Capitol Hill on Tuesday afternoon -- just hours after it was announced that Griner's detention in Russia would be extended until at least July 2 and he confirmed to us they've officially entered into talks with Russian leaders to try to get Griner back on U.S. soil. "We're actively negotiating to get her out," Allred said. "Basically, we've acknowledged and we understand now that she is being held as basically a political prisoner." It appears it'll be an uphill battle to make the negotiations work, however ... according to Russian state media outlet TASS, a Russian diplomat said on Tuesday the country will not consider a detainee swap for Griner until her case wraps in the court system.

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Phoenix Suns big JaVale McGee joins NBA's call for Brittney Griner's return from Russia​


When Phoenix Mercury star center Brittney Griner was initially detained in Russia back in February, NBA players weren’t so quick to speak up on the situation.
Suns backup center JaVale McGee explained why on ESPN’s First Take.“When it first happened, it was more it’s a sensitive subject and something we really don’t want to touch on because Russia is in a war right now and there’s a lot going on and things that we really can’t even imagine right now,” McGee said Tuesday morning. Over time, several NBA players like McGee’s teammate Chris Paul and head coach Monty Williams, along with Lakers fowards LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver have used their platform to discuss Griner’s situation.

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Roy Jones Jr. Reveals Plan to Free Brittney Griner Amid Russian Detention​


Roy Jones Jr. has revealed that he's been working behind the scenes to secure Brittney Griner's release from jail in Russia and he said he's willing to fly to Moscow himself to escort her back to the U.S. Jones, who is a dual citizen of the U.S. and Russia, has told TMZ Sports that he's been corresponding with a friend—who he describes as "a right-hand man to the office of" Russian President Vladimir Putin to finally get Griner back on U.S. soil.

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During Pride, Juneteenth, and the NBA Finals, it’s past time we get loud about freeing Brittney Griner​


June is a celebration. A time to celebrate identity, inclusion, and liberation. And we just watched one of the most exciting NBA Finals in history. There’s a happiness in the air. Yet, it’s heavy, too. Because across the world, during Pride, the week of Juneteenth, WNBA icon Brittney Griner is being unjustly held in Russia.
For a lot of Black women in America, especially queer, Black women, the slow reaction to bring Griner home has been a hurtful reminder of the ways in which they are erased. In 2020, almost 100,000 Black and girls were missing, accounting for about a third of the nearly 270,000 missing women and girls reported. How many did you hear about? Racism and sexism already make it so Black women are discriminated against at higher rates. Griner’s detention in Russia is putting that disparity on display.

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Wife of Houston native, WNBA star Brittney Griner tells AP scheduled call never happened​


WNBA star Brittney Griner tried to call her wife nearly a dozen times through the American embassy in Russia on the couple’s fourth anniversary Saturday, but they never connected since the phone line at the embassy was not staffed, Cherelle Griner said Monday.The couple has not spoken by phone in the four months since Friend's arrest in Russia on drug-realated charges. That was to have changed Saturday, when a long-awaited call was to have finally taken place. But the day came and went without any contact, leaving an anguished Cherelle Griner to wonder what went wrong and to suspect at least initially that Russian authorities had thwarted the call.

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Brittney Griner’s Supporters Call on Biden to Strike a Deal to Free Her​


Brittney Griner was detained in Russia on Feb. 17 on accusations that she had hashish oil in her luggage.



Dozens of organizations representing people of color, women and L.G.B.T.Q. voters called on President Biden on Wednesday to strike a deal for the release of Brittney Griner, the W.N.B.A. star who has been detained in Russia since February. In a letter sent to Mr. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the groups said Ms. Griner “continues to endure inhumane treatment, deprived of contact with her family.” The letter said the United States “has acknowledged that Brittney is essentially a political pawn in classifying her as wrongfully detained.

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Brittney Griner named honorary All-Star and starter by WNBA while detained in Russia​


Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner will miss this year's WNBA All-Star Game as she continues her pretrial detainment in Russia. However, the league is still including Griner in the event by naming her an honorary All-Star and starter.
"During each season of Brittney's career in which there has been an All-Star Game, she has been selected as an All-Star," said commissioner Cathy Engelbert in the WNBA's All-Star team announcement."It is not difficult to imagine that if BG were here with us this season, she would once again be selected and would, no doubt, show off her incredible talents. So, it is only fitting that she be named as an honorary starter today and we continue to work on her safe return to the U.S." Ten other players were voted as starters for next month's game. Breanna Stewart and Sylvia Fowles will serve as co-captains for one team, while A'ja Wilson and Sue Bird lead the opposite bench. Bird will be making her 13th All-Star appearance before she retires at the conclusion of the 2022 season.

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Bipartisan resolution passed by US House to push for Mercury C Brittney Griner’s release​


The U.S. House of Representatives passed Rep. Greg Stanton’s bipartisan resolution calling on the Russian government to release Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner on Friday, congressman Greg Stanton announced.
Stanton’s bipartisan resolution also expressed support for further efforts to made by the United State government to secure her release, according to a press release.
Griner has been detained in Russia since Feb. 17 after authorities stopped her at an airport for having vape cartridges containing hashish oil.“ Not a day goes by that we aren’t thinking of Brittney and working to get her home,” Stanton said in the release. “We will continue to push for her release and make sure that she is not forgotten.”
The resolution was introduced by Stanton last month with the help of Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee and Collin Alfred of Texas, where Griner is from and played her college ball for Baylor. Stanton spoke on the House Floor on Thursday ahead of the resolution being passed on Friday.

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WNBA star Brittney Griner appears in Russian court, criminal trial set for July 1​


More than four months after she was arrested at a Moscow airport for cannabis possession, a Russian court has set the start date of the criminal trial of U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner for July 1. The Phoenix Mercury star was also ordered to remain in custody for the duration of her criminal trial. She could face 10 years in prison if convicted on charges of large-scale transportation of drugs. Fewer than 1% of defendants in Russian criminal cases are acquitted, and unlike in the U.S., acquittals can be overturned. On Monday, the court in the Moscow suburb of Khimki extended Griner's detention for another six months after she appeared for a preliminary hearing held behind closed doors. Photos obtained by the AP showed her appearing in handcuffs. Griner had previously been ordered to remain in pretrial detention until July 2. Griner's detention and trial come at an extraordinarily low point in Moscow-Washington relations. She was arrested at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport less than a week before Russia sent troops into Ukraine, which aggravated already-high tensions with sweeping sanctions by the United States and Russia's denunciation of U.S. weapon supplies to Ukraine.

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WNBA star Brittney Griner Russia hearings will be a 'show trial' with a 'predetermined' outcome, experts warn​


*Brittney Griner's trial over drug smuggling charges in Russia is set to begin on Friday.

*The WNBA superstar faces up to 10 years in prison if she's convicted, which she likely will be.

*Experts warn that this is just a "show trial" and that the result is "predetermined" against Griner.

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WNBA star Brittney Griner’s release uncertain as trial begins in Russia​


Although a Russian court ruled that WNBA star Brittney Griner's detention may be extended for six more months, her trial on alleged drug charges begins Friday and gives her supporters a glimmer of hope that her release is still possible. Since her arrest on Feb. 17, Griner has been locked up in a Russian prison. She was charged with drug smuggling after Russian officials allegedly found vape cartridges containing oil derived from cannabis in her luggage. She faces up to 10 years in prison. It's a stark contrast to her life as a millionaire athlete playing in professional basketball leagues in the United States and, for the past seven years, and in Russia, where she earns nearly four times as much as her nearly $282,000 annual WNBA salary. Speculation on the reason for Griner's arrest centers on Russian President Vladimir Putin's alleged desire to use the American star as a geopolitical pawn at a time when U.S.-Russian relations were at their lowest point since the Cold War. And then the Russian invasion of Ukraine occurred, and U.S.-Russian relations have become worse.

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