{"id":49786,"date":"2022-06-14T04:50:09","date_gmt":"2022-06-14T04:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/brittney-griners-team-meets-with-us-state-department-over-her-detention\/"},"modified":"2022-06-14T04:50:09","modified_gmt":"2022-06-14T04:50:09","slug":"brittney-griners-team-meets-with-us-state-department-over-her-detention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/brittney-griners-team-meets-with-us-state-department-over-her-detention\/","title":{"rendered":"Brittney Griner’s Team Meets With US State Department Over Her Detention"},"content":{"rendered":"
US State Department officials met on Monday with Brittney Griner’s WNBA team, the Phoenix Mercury, to discuss the status of Griner’s monthslong detention in Russia and efforts made toward securing her release.<\/p>\n
Griner, one of the WNBA’s most recognizable stars, has been held in Russia since Feb. 17, after customs officials accused her of carrying hashish oil in her luggage at an airport near Moscow.<\/p>\n
In May, the State Department said it determined that Griner had been “wrongfully detained.”<\/p>\n
“It’s something that we’ve all talked about intimately as a group, and now knowing the State Department at the highest level, from US President Joe Biden to the team that is working on bringing back all Americans who are wrongfully detained, gives us a lot of confidence that they’re working on it, \u201dDiana Taurasi, the Mercury’s star guard, said in a statement. “Anything that we can do on our side to amplify and to put BG first will be our No. 1 priority.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The meeting included representatives from the State Department, including the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, according to a department spokesman. After, members of the Mercury spoke with Representatives Greg Stanton, Democrat of Arizona, and Sheila Jackson Lee, Democrat of Texas. In May, Stanton, Jackson Lee and Representative Colin Allred, Democrat of Texas, introduced a resolution calling for Griner’s release.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The Mercury are in Washington to play the Mystics on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Mercury forward Brianna Turner said officials encouraged the team to continue talking publicly about Griner.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey encouraged us to keep speaking her name, to keep holding them accountable to bring BG back home as soon as possible,\u201d Turner said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Griner was returning to Russia to play for UMMC Yekaterinburg, a professional women’s basketball team, when she was detained. Many WNBA players supplement their incomes in the league’s off-season by playing internationally, where the top-tier athletes can draw salaries of around $ 1 million.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The drug charges carry a penalty of up to 10 years in prison if Griner is convicted in Russia.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Initially, Griner’s supporters spoke little publicly about the detention, fearing her situation would become part of the larger global conflict involving Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the United States’ strained relationship with Russia.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
That strategy shifted after the State Department declared Griner had been \u201cwrongfully detained\u201d days after Russia exchanged Trevor R. Reed, a former US Marine who had been sentenced to nine years in prison for assault, in a prisoner swap.<\/p>\n
Reed’s freedom raised hopes for the releases of Griner and Paul N. Whelan, a former US Marine who was sentenced in Russia to 16 years in prison on espionage charges.<\/p>\n Why was she in Russia? <\/strong>Griner was in Russia playing for an international team during the WNBA off-season. Trading rest for overseas competition is common among the league’s players for many reasons, but often the biggest motivation is money.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Does this have anything to do with Ukraine? <\/strong>Griner’s detention comes during an inflamed standoff between Russia and the United States over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but it is still unclear whether Russia might have targeted Griner as leverage against the United States.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n How is the United States approaching the situation? <\/strong>In March, US officials were finally able to see Griner and said she is doing well. Weeks later, the State Department subsequently said that it had determined she was \u201cwrongfully detained,\u201d adding that an interactency team would work to have her released.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n In May, Cherelle Griner, Brittney Griner’s wife, appeared on \u201cGood Morning America\u201d and appealed to President Biden to intervene.<\/p>\n \u201cI just keep hearing that he has the power,\u201d Cherelle Griner said. \u201cShe She’s a political pawn. If they’re holding her because they want you to do something, then I want you to do it. “<\/p>\n Brittney Griner’s supporters have followed in vocalizing their support for her release. Many WNBA players have worn T-shirts and hoodies in support of Griner, and her initials di lei are displayed on the courts for all 12 WNBA teams.<\/p>\n Penny Taylor, Taurasi’s wife and one of Griner’s former teammates, used her induction into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame last week to ask for Griner’s release.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cBG is our family,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cShe She’s yours, too. The entire global sport community needs to come together to insist that she be a priority. “<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" US State Department officials met on Monday with Brittney Griner’s WNBA team, the Phoenix Mercury, to discuss the status of Griner’s monthslong detention in Russia and efforts made toward securing her release. Griner, one of the WNBA’s most recognizable stars, has been held in Russia since Feb. 17, after customs officials accused her of carrying …<\/p>\nWhat to Know About Brittney Griner’s Detention in Russia<\/h2>\n
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