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
KHIMKI, Russia (AP) — American basketball star Brittney Griner didn’t testify on the third day of her drugs possession trial in Russia, but the director of the Russian team she plays for in the off-season said he told the court about her merits. Griner was arrested in February at the Russian capital’s Sheremetyevo Airport when customs officials said they found vape canisters with cannabis oil in her luggage. She has been jailed since then, facing up to 10 years in prison if convicted. Last week she acknowledged to the court that she possessed the canisters, but said she had no criminal intent and said the presence in her luggage was due to hasty packing. She was expected to testify on Thursday in the court in the Moscow suburb of Khimki, where the airport is located, but did not.
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