Defence lawyer says Griner hopes a prisoner swap would allow her to go residence.
With the Russian trial of US basketball star Brittney Griner anticipated to conclude this week, the Russian authorities has change into more and more crucial of public appeals by the US to launch Griner, lamenting the usage of “megaphone diplomacy”.
The 2-time Olympic gold medallist was detained at a Moscow airport in February when she entered the nation with vape canisters containing hashish oil. Griner has pleaded responsible, however stated bringing the canisters into Russia was not intentional.
Through the listening to, on Tuesday prosecutors referred to as a state narcotics professional who analysed hashish present in Griner’s baggage. Her defence fielded a specialist who challenged the evaluation, charging that it was flawed and didn't conform to official guidelines.
Griner was escorted into court docket in handcuffs and positioned inside a cage through the trial in Khimki, a city on the northern fringe of Moscow. Whereas within the cage, she held up private images.
Final week Griner had pleaded for leniency, saying that she by no means supposed to interrupt any legal guidelines.
She faces as much as 10 years in jail if convicted.
The trial adjourned till Thursday, when closing statements are scheduled.
The US has promoted a prisoner change that might safe her launch. Russian officers have stated an change can solely occur after the trial is over.
“She nonetheless is aware of that the top (of her trial) is close to and, in fact, she heard the information, so she is hoping that someday she could possibly be coming residence,” Griner’s lawyer Maria Blagovolina stated.
The US has claimed that Griner and Paul Whelan, an American who was taken into custody by Russia in December 2018 on costs of espionage, are being “wrongfully detained”. A Russian court docket convicted Whelan in June 2020 and sentenced him to 16 years in jail.
US President Joe Biden’s administration has referred to as the prisoner swap, which reportedly would change Whelan and Griner for Russian arms vendor Viktor Bout, a “substantial proposal”. Relations between Moscow and Washington have change into more and more strained over Russia’s conflict in Ukraine.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has stated the discharge of Griner and Whelan is a “high precedence” and pushed Russian international minister Sergey Lavrov to simply accept the prisoner change proposal throughout a telephone name final week.
The Lavrov-Blinken name marked the highest-level identified contact between Washington and Moscow since Russia despatched troops into Ukraine greater than 5 months in the past, the direct outreach at odds with US efforts to isolate the Kremlin.
Because the US steps up its effort to carry Griner and Whelan residence, the Kremlin has additionally bristled at options that the trial is politically motivated and that the 2 Individuals are being improperly detained.
“We nonetheless consider that any exchanges of knowledge on this subject ought to be discreet,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated to reporters. “Megaphone diplomacy and the general public change of opinions won't result in outcomes.”
Griner’s lawyer has stated that an change can be “legally potential”. Bout, the Russian arms vendor the US is providing in change for Whelan and Griner, is called the “Service provider of Loss of life” and is presently serving a 25-year jail sentence within the US.
Nevertheless, a Kremlin spokesperson advised reporters final week that “a concrete outcome has not but been achieved”.
Griner’s trial, which started in July, has featured testimony from a US doctor who confirmed that she had a prescription to make use of hashish oil for a continual damage. Russian teammates from UMMC Ekaterinburg, the place Griner was travelling to play earlier than the beginning of the US basketball season, have additionally testified earlier than the court docket vouching for her good character.
In a letter to Biden, Griner stated that she was “terrified” that she could possibly be imprisoned in Russia and urged him to do every part in his energy to carry her residence.
The Kremlin has stated the case towards Griner has nothing to do with politics and that she is going through the opportunity of jail time for violating Russian legal guidelines, and that the medicinal use of hashish within the US has no bearing on the trial in Russia.
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