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Brittney Griner has been in Russian custody for three weeks, congressman says, as questions stay about her whereabouts

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And US efforts to get Griner out of Russia are difficult by strained relations between the 2 international locations — a deterioration exacerbated by Russia’s war with Ukraine, US Rep. Colin Allred informed ESPN on Wednesday.

“I do suppose that it is actually uncommon that we have not been granted entry to her from our embassy and our consular companies,” Allred, D-Texas, told ESPN.

“The Russian legal justice system may be very completely different than ours, very opaque. We do not have lots of perception into the place she is in that course of proper now, however she’s been held for 3 weeks now, and that is extraordinarily regarding,” Allred mentioned.

Information of Griner’s arrest broke within the US last weekend, with Russian media reporting she was detained at a Moscow airport on some unspecified day in February. Many particulars nonetheless are in question, together with exactly the place she is now.

Russian authorities mentioned Griner, 31, had hashish oil in her baggage whereas on the airport and accused her of smuggling important quantities of a narcotic substance, an offense the Russian authorities says is punishable by as much as 10 years in jail.

Griner, a two-time Olympic basketball gold medalist and WNBA star, performs for the Russian membership UMMC Ekaterinburg through the WNBA offseason. A photograph posted to social media on February 16 seems to point out Griner at a resort in New York’s John F. Kennedy Worldwide Airport. 4 days later, Griner’s Russian staff performed in a sport and he or she was not in the lineup.

As phrase unfold within the US of Griner’s plight, legislators have pushed for the federal authorities to intervene. The Biden administration is working to attempt to get Griner out of Russia, members of the Congressional Black Caucus said after assembly Monday with President Joe Biden.

The backdrop of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — which has led to widespread worldwide condemnation and the severing of many diplomatic ties — has led analysts and authorities officers to notice it might be very difficult to get Griner and other Americans incarcerated in Russia again dwelling.

Supporters of Griner and two People who’ve been detained in Russia for much longer — Trevor Reed and Paul Whelan — having been pleading for assist liberating their family members, whilst diplomatic channels fade.

Reed, 30, and Whelan, 52, had been arrested and convicted individually for alleged crimes they’ve emphatically denied well before the Russian incursion of Ukraine, and the pair stay in jail, serving prolonged sentences denounced by US officers as unfair.

“What’s clearly completely different (in Griner’s case) is that Brittney is a particularly high-profile athlete, and it is occurring through the course of a Russian-begun warfare in Ukraine, wherein we’re deeply against what they’re doing,” Allred informed ESPN.

Allred hopes the US can transfer shortly to get Griner out of Russia, he informed ESPN.

“I am positive her lawyer in Russia is working by the method, however day-after-day for anybody being held, significantly being held abroad, is a lifetime,” Allred mentioned. “I acknowledge that for her family and friends, this have to be extremely tough time. And for her, I am positive the uncertainty about what’s occurring might be simply horrible. And so, hopefully, no matter occurs, we are able to get this transferring shortly and get her out.”

Little readability over what comes subsequent

The shortage of particulars offered by Russian authorities has troubled these near Griner and has others asking what, if something, will be carried out to ensure her safety and freedom whereas Russian troops mount their offensive towards Ukrainians.

Citing a legislation enforcement supply, the Russian information company TASS recognized an American girl arrested on drug fees at a Moscow airport as Griner, according to The New York Instances. The Russian Federal Customs Service confirmed the arrest of an American athlete in February but didn’t establish the particular person by title nor the precise date of the arrest, per an announcement initially reported Saturday by Russia’s Interfax Information Company.

The customs service mentioned the American was positioned in pretrial detention and famous a legal case was opened for smuggling important quantities of narcotic substances, and the offense carries a punishment of as much as 10 years imprisonment.

“The customs inspection of the hand baggage being carried by the US citizen confirmed the presence of vapes with particularly smelling liquid, and an knowledgeable decided that the liquid was hashish oil (hash oil), which is a narcotic substance,” the customs service said.

Russian state-owned information channel Russia 24 reported a photograph was taken by authorities of Griner at a police station holding an indication along with her title on it.

A member of the US Home Armed Companies Committee informed CNN on Monday that “it’s going to be very difficult” to get Griner out of Russia.

“Our diplomatic relationships with Russia are nonexistent in the meanwhile,” US Rep. John Garamendi, D-California, mentioned. “Maybe through the numerous negotiations that will happen, she would possibly have the ability to be one of many options. I do not know.”

He additionally famous that “Russia has some very, very strict LGBT guidelines and legal guidelines” — although it isn’t clear whether or not these guidelines and legal guidelines would possibly affect the case of Griner, who’s homosexual and married. Russia has handed LGBTQ-related laws and outlawed the “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations round minors.”

Organizations such because the WNBA, the Phoenix Mercury and the WNBA gamers’ union have shared their issues for Griner and their hopes for her security. The WNBA’s different gamers have left Russia and Ukraine, it has mentioned.

The arrest of one of many high athletes in ladies’s basketball additionally has struck a chord with many People. An online petition began on Change.org by Tamryn Spruill, a journalist masking ladies’s basketball, has garnered tens of 1000’s of signatures.

Griner’s highschool basketball coach, Debbie Jackson, worries Griner’s case might be used for political functions, she told CNN this week.

“My largest worry is that … she’s going to turn out to be a political pawn,” Jackson mentioned.

Griner’s spouse, Cherelle Griner, shared Monday on Instagram her and others’ grief over the state of affairs and the shortage of data offered from abroad.

“We love you babe! Individuals say ‘keep busy.’ But, there’s not a job on this world that might preserve any of us from questioning if you’re secure,” she mentioned.

“My coronary heart, our hearts, are all skipping beats on a regular basis that goes by with out listening to from you. I miss your voice. I miss your presence. You are our particular person! There aren’t any phrases to specific this ache. I am hurting, we’re hurting. We await the day to like on you as a household.”

CNN’s Travis Caldwell, Lucy Kafanov, Paul P. Murphy, Holly Yan, Steve Almasy, Kelly McCleary, Allie Malloy, Wayne Sterling, Elizabeth Joseph, Valery Yegorov and Colin McCullough contributed to this report.

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