US Basketball star Brittney Griner freed in US-Russia prisoner swap

President Joe Biden said Thursday that US women’s basketball star Brittney Griner is “on her way home” after being freed from Russia in a prisoner swap.

“She is safe. She is on a plane. She is on her way home,” he tweeted. Biden was due to speak to the nation from the White House shortly.

Moments ago I spoke to Brittney Griner.

She is safe.
She is on a plane.
She is on her way home. pic.twitter.com/FmHgfzrcDT

— President Biden (@POTUS) December 8, 2022

Moscow confirmed on Thursday it had exchanged US basketball star Brittney Griner for notorious arms trafficker Victor Bout who was serving a 25-year sentence in the United States.

“On December 8, 2022, at the Abu Dhabi airport, the exchange of Russian citizen Viktor Bout for US citizen Brittney Griner… was successfully completed,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

In November, the 32-year-old player was transferred to a penal colony, a move that drew criticism from the White House.

Why was she arrested?

In August, a Russian court had sentenced Griner to nine years in prison over drug smuggling. US President Joe Biden had called the ruling “unacceptable”.

The court had “found the defendant guilty” of smuggling and possessing “a significant amount of narcotics”, judge Anna Sotnikova told a court in the town of Khimki just outside Moscow.

Sotnikova sentenced Griner, 31, to nine years in prison and said she would also have to pay a fine of one million rubles ($16,590).

The six-foot-nine (2.06 metres) star was detained at a Moscow airport in February this year after she was found carrying vape cartridges with cannabis oil in her luggage. The arrest came just days before Moscow launched its military intervention in Ukraine.

Griner’s trial came with tensions soaring between Moscow and Washington over Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine which has sparked international condemnation and a litany of Western sanctions.

“I made an honest mistake and I hope that your ruling doesn’t end my life here,” Griner said earlier Thursday.

US Reaction

US President Joe Biden immediately released a statement, calling the Russian court’s sentencing of Griner “unacceptable.”

“Russia is wrongfully detaining Brittney. It’s unacceptable and I call on Russia to release her immediately so she can be with her wife, loved ones, friends and teammates,” Biden said in the statement.

The US president reiterated that he would “work tirelessly and pursue every possible avenue” to repatriate Griner.

Griner’s trial accelerated in recent days as the United States and Russia discussed a potential prisoner swap.

With inputs from agencies

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