Earlier, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov mentioned the “hype” and stress in the United States for a prisoner trade involving Griner weren’t serving to her possibilities of launch. Ryabkov spoke to journalists because the court convened Thursday in the Moscow suburb of Khimki.
“The American side’s attempts to foment hype and make noise in the public environment are understandable, but they don’t help to practically resolve issues,” Ryabkov informed journalists.
Griner entered the court handcuffed and carrying a crimson shirt and crimson slacks, in accordance to video from state-owned RIA Novosti news company.
The deputy chief of mission on the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, Elizabeth Rood, was in court and handed Griner a letter from President Biden, she informed reporters after the listening to. She mentioned Griner was doing nicely underneath the circumstances and was in a position to learn books, Russian media reported.
Griner’s lawyer Alexander Boikov informed journalists outdoors the court that her authorized staff would search essentially the most lenient potential sentence.
In a listening to final week, Russian customs officers mentioned Griner was discovered with two vape cartridges in her baggage at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport in February, per week earlier than Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The prosecution mentioned the cartridges contained a “significant amount” of hashish oil, though the quantity concerned is 0.702 grams (0.02 ounces), in accordance to investigators.
Ryabkov prompt the Russian facet was prepared to negotiate as soon as Griner’s case was full, saying that “we have a long-established form for discussing these matters.”
“Clearly the necessary judicial procedures have not been completed. Until then, there is no nominal, formal, procedural basis for any further steps at all,” Ryabkov mentioned.
Griner was arrested throughout extreme stress between Washington and Moscow, which has worsened with Russia’s conflict in Ukraine. In January, the U.S. Embassy in Moscow issued an alert warning Americans in opposition to any journey to Russia due to the extreme downturn as diplomatic efforts to avert the conflict failed.
A White House assertion Wednesday mentioned Griner was being held underneath “intolerable circumstances.” The assertion got here after Biden and Vice President Harris known as Griner’s spouse, Cherelle, assuring her they have been doing all they may to safe Griner’s launch and that of one other American jailed in Russia, former Marine Paul Whelan.
Whelan, a safety advisor, has been in jail since December 2018. He traveled to Moscow for a good friend’s wedding ceremony and was arrested in his resort room after which convicted of spying in a closed trial, receiving a 16-year sentence.
Whelan’s sister Elizabeth Whelan mentioned the household was “astonished” that Biden known as Griner’s spouse however didn’t name them, in accordance to the Detroit News.
In a prisoner trade with the United States in April, Moscow swapped Marine veteran Trevor Reed for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot serving a 20-year jail sentence in Connecticut for drug trafficking. Reed had acquired a nine-year sentence after being convicted of assault endangering the lives of law enforcement officials.
Griner lately wrote to Biden begging him not to neglect her and different detainees, saying, “I’m terrified I might be here forever.”
Griner’s supporters in the United States say she is a hostage and a political pawn.
Russian media has speculated that Washington may trade Griner for Russian arms vendor Viktor Bout, who’s serving a 25-year sentence in the United States for conspiring to promote surface-to-air missiles to a international terrorist group and conspiring to kill U.S. residents. Bout, the inspiration for the Nicolas Cage movie “Lord of War,” smuggled arms to warlords in Africa and the Middle East for years till his 2008 arrest in Thailand and 2010 extradition to the United States.
Russia calls Bout’s arrest and conviction “unlawful and political” and has been demanding his launch ever since he was arrested.
According to the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation, which advocates for prisoner and hostage releases, there are 64 Americans held hostage or wrongfully detained overseas. Foley was a journalist kidnapped in northern Syria in 2012 and slain in 2014. The quantity consists of two individuals granted U.S. immigrant visas however detained earlier than they may journey to the United States.
In latest years, there was a worrying rise in “hostage diplomacy,” in which nations seize rival nations’ residents on flimsy costs to achieve leverage. The State Department has accused Russia of wrongfully detaining Griner, Reed and Whelan, however there have been related alarming incidents in China, North Korea and Iran.
Among the Americans described by the State Department as wrongfully detained in China are Mark Swidan, jailed since 2012; Kai Li, imprisoned since 2016; and pastor David Lin, jailed since 2008.
In early May, the State Department determined that Griner was being wrongfully held and shifted supervision of her case to Roger Carstens, presidential envoy for hostage affairs.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has dismissed claims that the fees have been political, saying that drug offenses have been handled significantly in Russia and plenty of different international locations.