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
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says President Joe Biden has called the wife of WNBA player Brittney Griner, who is detained in Russia, and has pledged that he is working to win her release as soon as possible.
Biden’s conversation with Griner’s wife, Cherelle Griner, comes after Brittney Griner wrote Biden a letter on Monday. In the letter, Brittney Griner told the president she feared she would spend forever in a Russian jail.
The WNBA star is currently on trial in Russia, accused of possessing vape cartridges containing cannabis oil. Biden’s call comes as Griner’s family has become more aggressive in pressuring the Biden administration by speaking out about her case,
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