 Today, Thursday, December 8th, 2022, Brittney Griner has been released from a Russian prison and is headed home.
President Joe Biden announced just after 8am Eastern time that Griner was on a plane and headed home, and said, "She is safe. She is on a plane. She is on her way home.” Next to President Biden at the white house press conference were Vice President Kamala Harris, and Brittney’s wife, Cherelle Griner. The President told reporters during a press briefing that he had spoke with Griner on the phone just moments before. He said, "I'm glad to say Brittney's in good spirits,” and “relieved to finally be heading home." However he also added that this past year has been “hell" for her and her loved ones. He said, "The fact remains that she’s lost months of her life experiencing needless trauma. … She deserves space, privacy, and time with her loved ones to recover and heal from her time being wrongfully detained." The WNBA player and two-time Olympic gold medalist had been detained since February, one week before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, when she was arrested at a Moscow airport with vape cartridges of cannabis oil in her luggage. Griner was sentenced to 9 years and transferred to a notoriously difficult penal colony to serve out her sentence. Today, she was traded in a prisoner swap for Russian arms dealer, Viktor Bout. Bout is also known by the nickname the "Merchant of Death" due to being one of the biggest arms dealers of the '90s. Bout had sold arms to warlords and rogue governments, becoming one of the world's most wanted men. His exploits inspired the 2005 Hollywood film Lord of War, which was loosely based on his life. Bout’s life of arms running ended in 2008 during an elaborate US sting, when he was arrested at a hotel in the Thai capital Bangkok. Bout was extradited to the U.S. two years later and sentenced to 25 years for supporting terrorists and conspiring to kill Americans. Bout had served twelve years of that sentence up until President Biden signed the order to commute his sentence today in exchange for Griner. The prisoner exchange took place in the United Arab Emirates, at the international airport in Abu Dhabi. A joint statement between the Saudis and the United Arab Emirates said that negotiations were led by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and United Arab Emirates President Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan. The Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is said to have good relations with Russia's Vladimir Putin. Earlier this year, in September, he also helped co-ordinate a complex swap of hundreds of prisoners between Russia and Ukraine. During the prisoner swap at Abu Dhabi’s airport, one U.S. official said Griner and Bout actually walked past each other on the tarmac on their way to exchanging planes. In addition to the help from the middle east leaders, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken singled out the efforts of diplomat Roger Carstens, who was accompanying Griner on the plane from the UAE. Carstens has sreved as the Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs since 2020, and is also a retired United States Army Special Forces officer. During earlier negotiations, the U.S. had always made it clear that it also wanted another American Paul Whelan, to be included in an exchange. Paul Whelan, is a former Marine who has been in a Russian prison since 2018, after being accused of being a spy, a claim his family has said is untrue. Whelan has about 13 years left on his sentence, and sadly, Whelan was not released as part of today’s prisoner exchange. During his press conference speech today, President Biden said that the U.S. had tried to secure the release of both Griner and Whalen, and that this wasn’t about a “choice [of] which American to bring home." The President said, "Sadly, for totally illegitimate reasons, Russia is treating Paul’s case differently than Brittney’s. … And while we have not yet succeeded in securing Paul’s release, we are not giving up — we will never give up." Brittney Griner’s wife, Cherelle Griner said "Today my family is whole, but as you all are aware, there are so many other families that are not whole.” She added that she and Brittney “will remain committed to the work of getting every American home, including Paul, whose family is in our hearts today as we celebrate [Brittney] being home." Paul Whelan's brother, David Whelan, said in a statement to CBS News that US officials had warned the family in advance that Paul Whelan was not part of the exchange. Whelan’s family is said to be "devastated," however, they are also "so glad" to hear of the release and that the family does "not begrudge Ms. Griner her freedom." David Whelan’s statement further wrote, "The Biden Administration made the right decision to bring Ms. Griner home, and to make the deal that was possible, rather than waiting for one that wasn't going to happen.” The statement also added, though, that, "It's clear the US government needs to be more assertive,” with Russia. President Biden and the U.S. Government urge Americans to take precautions before travelling overseas, and warned of the risk of being wrongfully detained by a foreign government. And among the many lessons learned from this case, cannabis consumers must be extremely aware of foreign laws when traveling, and take them very, very seriously, as this case of Brittney’s few vape cartridges shows. The advocacy website, Last Prisoner Project, says that there are countless numbers of Americans languishing in foreign prisons right now all around the world. Comments are closed.
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