Brittney Griner "Trial"

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So why are we not hearing more of this? If this were a professional male basketball player would it be different? Color...LBGT? Other?

https://news.yahoo.com/brittney-griner-appears-russian-court-235943822.html

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Type: Question • Score: 8 • Views: 845 • Replies: 19

[+3] - InfraBlue - 07/07/2022According to Wikipedia's, [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis_in_Russia][i]Cannabis in Russia[/i][/url] article, "possession of up to 6 grams (or two grams of hashish) is an...

@Linkat,

I don't know where you NOT getting your news from but it's getting a decent amount of coverage in the NY Times as well as NPR.

It's a relatively minor crime but given its circumstances? She kind of shot herself in the foot when she chose to go over to Russia, a very AntiAmerican autocratic country. She violated a very low-hanging fruit law. Now she's a political pawn.

I can't get much sympathy for her. She chose to put her head in open maw of the Great Russian bear? She shouldn't act surprised if it closed its jaws.

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@tsarstepan,

She's been there for a while and I think probably because the trial just started it has been getting more news.

It seems just in the last year that ties with Russia have gotten really bad. The thing though with women's basketball is they got bad so much less than mens many if the players do go play for teams overseas in their offseason.

I am surprised too she would choose Russia...I am guessing the money was there....who knows, but yeah I feel bad...should she had chosen going there..no and if she did do the crime ...should she had...yeah, but being tomb should not equate to 10 years in prison.

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@Linkat,

I definitely recall hearing about her arrest on the news many months ago.

I'm sure she's not going to spend any considerable time in prison. There will be a prisoner exchange between the two governments.

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@Linkat,

It was on the BBC at the beginning of the invasion.

There was also a story about how shecouldn't talk to her wife because the American Embassy screwed up.

It's a prominent news story.

So why have you not heard more about it?

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@izzythepush,

I have just I would have expected to hear more. Expected it to be a big story...its not that it was not reported just under reported.

I heard more about it on Facebook than traditional media ...with things along the lines of it this was an NBA player it would be blasted everywhere.

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@Linkat,

Mark Fogel is another American held on drugs charges, cannabis which is decriminalised in many places, but over here where it is still illegal, he'd get a small fibe or conditional discharge.

In Russia he looks like getting 14 years.

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@izzythepush,

izzythepush wrote:

Mark Fogel is another American held on drugs charges, cannabis which is decriminalised in many places, but over here where it is still illegal, he'd get a small fibe or conditional discharge.

In Russia he looks like getting 14 years.

I remember watching Midnight Run....it was about an American getting caught...I think is was Turkey...with some drugs..he was put in maximum prison ..I forget all the details but remember his wife managing to smuggle money in a photo album for use on trying to bribe his way out.

Quite honestly as much as I sympathize with these people I don't understand why they would chance this and why someone like Brittney being part of a team...coaches and managers would make another country's laws clear...makes me wonder if the charges are fabricated.

Also when taking a hotel shuttle bus back to the airport after a stay in Jamaica... The driver warned anyone carrying marijuana to get rid of it before getting to the airport because although it is easy to get and legal there it us not legal at the airport and you did not want to go to a Jamaican jail.

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Update:
Brittney Griner pleads guilty to drug charges

BTW, it would have been more useful to put brittney griner as the forum tag as well as I wouldn't have thought to use Basketball, Wnba to find this thread again.

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@tsarstepan,

Quote:

The White House announced Wednesday that the president had spoken to Griner's wife, Cherelle (after facing criticism for not doing so sooner), and read her a draft of a letter he planned to send her that same day.

Let's bring another reason why Brittney Griner's decision to play basketball in Russia. Putin's (ideal) Russia is notoriously homophobic.

Vladimir Putin: Anti-gay law 'does not harm anybody'
LGBT rights in Russia
I vaguely remember that Putin once claimed that there "are no gays in Russia." That quote isn't immediately locatable so... take it with a spoonful of rancid borscht.

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@tsarstepan,

The thing I wonder about if what if she is guilty. High end athletes do occasionally partake of recreational drugs. Agassi, Phelps. Len Bias, Jennifer Capriati, it's not unheard of. Yes, this is Russia and we don't like them right now, but if she did the crime...

Also, I don't think the President is bound to call the family members of US citizens arrested overseas. That's what the State Department is for.

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@engineer,

Well, she pled guilty. Only an idiot would take drugs across a border. Look at the Canada-US border, where marijuana is totally legal in Canada and in some states -- you still can't carry drugs across the border. Here she is going to a hostile country with hash. Idiot.

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I wonder what the usual penalties are in Russia for importing or possessing amounts less than one gram of marijuana oil for personal use, i.e. not for distribution.

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@Mame,

She may well have been innocent and pleaded guilty if that's what her lawyers advised. Russia is an incredibly corrupt country.

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@izzythepush,

She said she packed in a hurry and didn't realize they were there. The facts are she's an adult, she was going to a country which has a terrible reputation, and she's accountable for her actions (as we all are). I feel for her but I don't feel sorry for her.

"Jailed American basketball star Brittney Griner on Thursday pleaded guilty to drug possession during her trial in Moscow but said she had no intention of committing a crime.

Representatives for Griner confirmed to The Associated Press that the WNBA star pleaded guilty to drug possession charges.

Russian news reports quoted Griner as saying through an interpreter at the court hearing that she had acted unintentionally because she was packing in haste."

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@InfraBlue,

According to Wikipedia's, Cannabis in Russia article, "possession of up to 6 grams (or two grams of hashish) is an administrative offense, punishable by a fine or detention of 15 days. Possession of larger amounts is a criminal offense." Griner was carrying less than a gram. She's been detained since February 17.

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Brittney Griner sentenced to 9 years in Russian prison on drug charges

The WaPo wrote:

A Russian judge on Thursday handed down a harsh, 9½-year prison sentence for WNBA star Brittney Griner, rejecting the player’s plea for leniency and her apology for “an honest mistake” in bringing less than a gram of cannabis oil into the country in February.

The sentence — close to the maximum possible — is likely to fuel anger among the athlete’s supporters and fans in the United States, who see her as a political pawn being held hostage by Russia. It will add to pressure on the Biden administration to reach a deal with Moscow on a prisoner exchange to bring her home.

Her fate is now in the hands of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who will make the final decision on any prisoner swap. She also was fined 1 million rubles ($16,590).

more. . .

9 years for "smuggling" less than a gram of hashish? That's a complete farce.

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@InfraBlue,

talk about the punishment not fitting the crime...

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@Region Philbis,

It's like the two Canadian Michaels being detained on bogus charges in China for nearly 3 years - it's pure and simple retaliation. And over the top.

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Ian Botham.

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Brittney Griner "Trial"

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