The American basketball player appeared for a second time in a Russian court and said he had no intention of committing a crime.
the basketball player Brittney Grinerconfined to Russia and accused of ‘big drug hustle’ for having capsules with cannabis oil for vaporizer in your luggage, plead guilty at his second hearing in front of a court in Moscow.
The American athlete, through an interpreter, pleaded guilty to having cannabis oil in his luggage and argued that he did not want to commit a crime and the presence of the banned substance in Russia was due to the haste in preparing his suitcases; according to the Interfax agency.
At Thursday’s session, the court took statements from two witnesses to the prosecution who participated in the search of the athlete’s assets at Russian customs. The previous session was witnessed by two people; the customs officer found on the scanner the image of what would be the capsules and the police agent to take the first interview. That testimony is behind closed doors because they contain ‘state secrets’.
The next trial hearing, the third, where verdict is expected, will be held on July 14.
Joe Biden responded to the letter to Brittney Griner
President of the United States Joe Bidenreceived on July 4 a handwritten letter from the detained player in which he admitted that he was really afraid and asked him to do everything to get him out of there. Then came the Griner family’s discontent over the lack of response from the White House.
The U.S. president called the family on Wednesday Grinerafter criticism for not answering earlier and read Cherellewife Brittneythe draft of the letter he would send her in response and guarantee that they would work to free his wife as soon as possible, as well as other Americans “unjustly” arrested in Russia.
The business manager of US Embassy in Russia, Elizabeth Roodhanded the basketball player a letter from U.S. President Joe Biden, he told the press.
“I talked to Mrs. Griner in the courtroom. She told me she was eating well, had the ability to read books, and she made sure that, considering the circumstances, everything was fine for her. The most important thing. I delivered to Griner a letter from President Biden and he was able to read that letter. “he said.
What Russia has to say about Brittney Griner’s situation
Moscow accused Washington of creating noise in the media and said it was not conducive to negotiation procedures. “We have long -established negotiation mechanisms on these issues. We understand the attempts by the US side to provoke this situation, to make noise in public space, but they are not conducive to a practical solution to the matter. this, “said the Russian. deputy foreign minister. , Sergei Ryabkov. According to the diplomat, the persistence in which the US describes its citizens convicted or prosecuted in Russia as ‘retained persons’, “reflects Washington’s lack of desire to accept the truth in an adequate way.” And he clarified that as long as the criminal procedure is not over and there is no verdict, it is not possible to move forward or think of ‘next steps’.
“It is quite difficult to engage in a detailed negotiation of any kind of exchange” between prisoners from the same country in the context of so many accusations, media noise and US -created networks. The Russian deputy foreign minister stressed that what will really help Griner is not the communications of the US president, Joe Biden, with his relatives, “but serious attention on the part of the United States to the signals they receive from Russia, from Moscow, from specialized channels.
The case of Brittney Griner
Source: EFE
Source: Tycsports
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