MOSCOW REGION, RUSSIA - JUNE 27, 2022: US Olympic champion basketball player Brittney Griner (R) charged with drug smuggling arrives for a preliminary hearing at the Khimki City Court. Video screen grab. Best quality available. Maxim Grigoryev/TASS/Sipa USA
Russia: US basketball player Brittney Griner appears in Khimki court on drug smuggling charges
MOSCOW (AP) — American basketball star Brittney Griner has gone on trial at a Moscow-area court on charges of possessing cannabis oil. Griner was arrested in February at Moscow’s international airport while traveling to play for a Russian team. The Phoenix Mercury center and two-time U.S. Olympic gold medalist could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted of large-scale transportation of drugs. Fewer than 1% of defendants in Russian criminal cases are acquitted, and unlike in the U.S., acquittals can be overturned. Her case comes at an extraordinarily low point in Moscow-Washington relations. Griner was arrested less than a week before Russia sent troops into Ukraine, which aggravated already high tensions between the two countries.
—Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
