US embassy in Moscow finds Brittney Griner 'in good condition' after getting consular access

[LetMyPeopleVote]

This is good news

Link to tweet

An official from the US embassy in Moscow found US basketball player Brittney Griner to be "in good condition," after they were recently granted consular access to the American athlete who is being detained in Russia, US State Department spokesman Ned Price told CNN on Wednesday.

The embassy official was granted consular access to Griner on Tuesday, according to Price, the first official government access given to Griner since she had been detained by Russia since mid-February.

"We were able to check on her condition, we will continue to work very closely with her legal team, with her broader network, to see to it that she is treated fairly," Price told CNN's Poppy Harlow.

"Our official found Brittney Griner to be in good condition and we will continue to do everything we can to see to that it she is treated fairly throughout this ordeal," he added.

[dchill]

1. Good condition.

So she's a used car?

[secondwind]

2. I think it was a serious comment.

[dchill]

4. And I think it's an unfortunate choice of words.

AND I doubt that she's in anything like "good" condition. She's in a Russian jail.

[Hortensis]

10. It's an objective comment using standard language for the situation.

Surely no need to imagine the word's a problem when there's a real one. Enough to just be unhappy that she committed a crime (at an especially unfortunate time, too) and is arrested and being held for it.

[dchill]

12. I get it.

I guess "As well as could be expected" wouldn't do, either. She's in a very, very tough situation it doesn't really help to amplify it. It's just that "good condition" is not just a term for a used item that's for sale, it's also likely completely wrong. IMO.

[Hortensis]

15. :) Sure. If you see "condition good" in your medical records

(which I certainly hope you would), though, don't be alarmed.

Seriously, I feel sure Griner is "in good condition." She's a professional athlete in very good health, after all, not an anxiety-prone diabetic septuagenarian who can't sleep without her cat. And State Department officials have been able to visit and evaluate her personally. Her legal situation they're, unfortunately, completely aware of.

The two other Americans, Trevor Reed and Paul Whelan, have been held for more than two years. We don't know if our officials were able to see them.

[obamanut2012]

7. What is wrong with good condition???

[dchill]

9. So she's doing calisthenics in her cell?

[Mariana]

17. Someone has issue with the word "condition" being applied to a human being, I think.

Never mind that the word has been so used for a very long time.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

13. Lol what the heck

[Bayard]

3. We still have an embassy in Moscow?

[former9thward]

18. Why wouldn't we?

[Bayard]

19. I thought they all left when it looked like invasion was eminent

[former9thward]

20. No, that was the embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Our embassy in Moscow is running normal.

[a kennedy]

5. why the hell is she still there??? 🤬 🤬 🤬

[Thomas Hurt]

6. She is a hostage

[a kennedy]

8. I know, just really asking why our government isn't, and maybe they are trying to get her out.....

This is just horrible…….hope they are trying to get her released.

[jcgoldie]

11. the timing is terrible

What do we have to negotiate with when we are doing everything we can to isolate Russia from the world economically and politically? Are they prepared to concede anything regarding Ukraine to get her back? Most would hope not I think.

[mitch96]

14. The russians have two other hostages in jails. Paul Whelan accused of spying and Trevor Reed

accused of endangering a police officer. Both are not in good shape. Reed is a 30 year old ex marine and has TB. If past preformance is any indication of future outcomes, it does not look good. Especially since Griner is everything they dislike. A proud tattooed African American lesbian that is taller than putin
m
https://www.voanews.com/a/state-department-calls-for-release-of-two-americans-held-in-russia-/6373284.html

[Hortensis]

16. Of course they are. They pressed for the access called for by

Last edited Wed Mar 23, 2022, 02:53 PM - Edit history (1)

international law but delayed by Russia, and got it. As for getting her out, in her high-profile case, and those of the two other Americans in Russian jails, hard reality is that, innocent or guilty, the decision would be made by Putin personally. However they initially came to be detained, that they still are is.

Other cases:

Two women arrested in recent years for similar reasons in Russia

In Russia, marijuana is illegal for recreational and medical purposes.

An Israeli-American woman was arrested at a Moscow airport in April 2019 as she was traveling from India to Israel and nine grams of marijuana were found in her luggage ... Naama Issachar, 26, was sentenced to more than seven years in prison for drug trafficking charges. ... Russian President Vladimir Putin pardoned her in January 2020 ahead of a visit of Benjamin Netanyahu ... to Moscow.

A New York-based film student was charged with drug possession in St. Petersburg for allegedly taking medical marijuana into the country, The Moscow Times reported in September 2019. ... Audrey Lorber was detained when she arrived in St. Petersburg for vacation and authorities found about 19 grams of marijuana on her. She said the drug was for medical reasons and showed the prescription but police said it wasn’t valid in Russia, CBS reported. Lorber spent more than a month in a detention sentence. A court in St. Petersburg fined her for 15,000 rubles or $230 after finding her guilty.

Of course, our officials are concerned with whether the allegations are true or false. In any case, it seems very possible Griner was targeted for political reasons. She was arrested in mid February, the invasion of Ukraine February 24.