The American basketball star Brittney Griner, who was detained in Russia for nine months, was released on Thursday (08.12.2022), as part of a prisoner exchange with Russian arms dealer Victor Bout, imprisoned for ten years in the United States.
The exchange took place at Abu Dhabi airport, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Telegram. Griner immediately boarded a plane bound for the United States.
“Moments ago I spoke to Brittney Griner. He is safe. He’s on a plane. He’s on his way home,” U.S. President Joe Biden said in a brief address at the White House.
‘Good morals’ despite ‘trauma’
“I also want to thank the UAE for helping us facilitate Brittney’s release,” he added, commenting that the athlete had “good morals” despite the “trauma” she suffered.
His wife, Cherelle Griner, said she was “overwhelmed with emotions”: “My family is complete,” she noted, expressing her “thanks” to the Democratic administration.
Another American detained in Russia, former military officer Paul Whelan, was not included in the exchange. “Even if we fail to secure Paul’s release, we will never give up,” Biden said. Arrested in December 2018 in Russia, he was sentenced in 2020 to 16 years in prison for “espionage”.
Sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment
The 32-year-old African-American athlete, a two-time Olympic champion, was arrested in February at a Moscow airport with a vape and liquid containing cannabis, a product banned in Russia.
She said she used it to soothe pain related to her intensive basketball practice, but in August she was sentenced to nine years in prison.
After her appeal was rejected, she was transferred in November to a penal colony in Mordovia, central Russia.
“Trafficker of death”
Victor Bout’s name had been mentioned in the summer. A notorious Russian arms dealer arrested in Thailand in 2008, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison in the United States. Nicknamed the “death dealer,” his extraordinary career served as inspiration for the film “The Lord of War,” in which Nicolas Cage plays a cynical arms dealer.
Americans and Russians accuse each other of arrests for political purposes. Several prisoner exchanges have taken place in the past.
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