Brittney Griner Appeals Conviction Amid Talk of Prisoner Swap
Last edited Mon Aug 15, 2022, 07:25 AM - Edit history (1)
Source: New York Times
The defense team for Brittney Griner, the American basketball star sentenced to prison in Russia on drug smuggling charges, said on Monday that it had appealed the verdict as Russian diplomats began to speak more openly about a potential prisoner exchange with the United States.
Maria Blagovolina, a partner at the law firm that has represented Ms. Griner, confirmed the appeal of the verdict, which was reached this month by the Khimki City Court outside Moscow. Ms. Griner's legal team has said that the appeal, which was expected, would most likely take up to three months to be adjudicated. Russian officials have said that all legal avenues must be exhausted before a potential exchange can be discussed.
But over the weekend, Aleksandr Darchiev, a high-ranking Russian diplomat, said that political negotiations with the United States were already underway, including discussion of Russians held by the United States whose release Moscow seeks in order to secure Ms. Griner's freedom.
"The discussion of the quite sensitive topic of prisoner exchange of Russian and American citizens has been ongoing along the channels set out by the two presidents," Mr. Darchiev, the director of the North American department at the Russian Foreign Ministry, told TASS, a state news agency.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/15/world/europe/brittney-griner-appeals-conviction.html
Headline updated.
Original headline - Brittney Griner appeals her conviction on drug charges in Russia, her defense team says.
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