The Ambassador of the United States to the Crimea Prisoners’ Refugion Investigation, and the Security of a Russian Penal Colony
“She’s safe. She is on the plane. She’s on her way home after being held in Russia for months without charge or trial.
Biden was under increasing pressure to secure her release and had made her a top priority. She wrote a letter saying that she was afraid of being here forever. After the elections in the US, Biden hoped that Russian President Putin would be willing to discuss a prisoner exchange.
“As a result of intense efforts, we managed to agree with the American side on organization of an exchange of Bout for Griner,” the foreign ministry said in a statement. “The Russian citizen has been returned to his homeland.”
The US government has resisted prisoner swaps out of concern that it could encourage the imprisonment of more Americans abroad. Biden official said that the exchange for Bout should not be interpreted as a new normal practice, but there are times where there aren’t alternatives.
The official said the administration felt a “moral obligation,” as well as a policy obligation, to bring people who are being held hostage or detained home.
“We start by asking ourselves this question: How is it acceptable for someone like Brittney Griner to be put through sham proceedings and forced to spend [time] … in a Russian penal colony, in horrific circumstances that she did not deserve? The official said that they regard that as unacceptable.
Senior administration officials told reporters on a conference call later that the agreement to secure Griner’s release was made in recent days after months of talks and a variety of proposals — proposals that were aimed at also trying to secure Whelan’s release.
“This was not a situation where we had a choice of which American to bring home,” an official told reporters on a conference call. It was a choice between bringing one American home or nothing at all.
US officials connected the Griner family shortly after the swap was completed. The Secretary of State said that the call was as moving as it was unforgettable, and that she was on the phone with her wife.
During the off-season, a friend of the Griner family played for a Russian club and said she earned more there. She said she would not come back because she disliked the way Griner was treated.
She was sentenced last August by a Russian court to nine years in prison for carrying less than a gram of hash oil into Russia when she arrived in February of this year for play in the Russian women’s professional basketball league. Last month, she was transferred to a prison colony in Mordovia — 300 miles southeast of Moscow — to begin serving out her sentence.
In court, Griner admitted to mistakenly packing two vape cartridges in her rush to pack her luggage — but provided documents that showed the hash oil was legally prescribed by her U.S. doctor for pain management.
When Will You Return to the Phoenix Mercury, Your teammates, and the U.S. National Team? The Case of Brittney Whelan
Whelan – a US, Irish, British and Canadian citizen – is currently imprisoned in a Russian penal colony after he was arrested in December 2018 on espionage charges, which he has denied. He was sent to prison for 16 years. He, like Griner, had been declared wrongfully detained by US officials.
When will you return to the Phoenix Mercury, your teammates, and the U.S. national team, after winning a gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics?
A decade ago, you became one of the first black and lesbian players in women’s basketball. In your trademark soft-spoken manner, you pushed for racial and social change in America. Will you use this moment to become an even more powerful advocate?
Brittney, you shouldn’t feel you owe anything more than the gratitude you’ve already expressed to those who stood by your side and worked for your release.
During this ordeal, we all saw the anguish and tears of your wife, Cherelle Griner. She is well aware that the two of you will speak up for Americans that have been wrongly held in other countries.
W.N.B.A. Player Victor Kozar, the Mercury’s President, and the Citigo 6 Star Brittney Griner
You might have not been well-known outside of sports circles. More and more people are talking about how you are part of a wave of W.N.B.A. players who spoke up for racial injustice. You have helped the people without homes in Phoenix.
When I spoke to Victor Kozar, the Mercury’s president, this week, he mentioned the letters you exchanged over the last several months. Your boss and friend said she was asking about other people. “Her concern was about other people. First and foremost, she asked how her teammates were doing, asking us to ensure we were taking care of her wife.”
As freed WNBA star Brittney Griner visits a Texas military medical facility following nearly 10 months of imprisonment in Russia, Jorge Toledo – one of the “Citgo 6” – spoke to CNN Saturday about how reintegration into society can take time and effort.
“We are now focused on ensuring that Brittney and her family’s well-being are prioritized and that all available assistance can be offered to them through an appropriate manner,” US State Department principal deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said at a news briefing Friday.
The swap, which took months to negotiate and has drawn mixed reaction in the US for not also including fellow detainee Paul Whelan, occurred at an airport tarmac in Abu Dhabi on Thursday.
She said that many people would like to see her, but that they might even wish to see her at home.
Jackson Lee, who is from the 18th Congressional District of Texas, said parts of the two-time Olympian’s current welfare have to be reviewed.
“We hear that she has spoken to her family members here, she sounded good, looking forward to seeing them, and we also know that she walked on her own capabilities both in terms of the swap and then when she landed in San Antonio.”
The case for Paul Whelan’s release revisited: How much did the US government care about collaborating with a criminal agent?
While many are celebrating Griner’s return home – seen as a diplomatic win between two of the world’s largest nations at fierce odds over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – the fate of Whelan’s release remains unclear.
The US tried to persuade Russia to swap both Griner and Whelan for arms dealer Bout, but Russian officials would not budge on the matter, with Russia saying both of the Americans’ cases were handled differently based on the charges each of them faced.
There is a precarious situation that needs to be resolved quickly according to the CNN interview with Whelan. I’m hoping that Biden and his administration will do everything they can to get me home, even at the price that they might have to pay.
“This was not a choice of which American to bring home,” Biden said Thursday. Russia is treating a case differently than a case that involves a person. We are not giving up despite the fact that we have not succeeded in getting Paul released. We will never give up.”
Paul Whelan’s sister, Elizabeth Whelan, told CNN’s Erin Burnett on Friday that the public discussion surrounding a potential swap has “been very difficult for my family to hear,” adding she believes her brother is being “discussed as if his only value was what we would have to give up for him.”
Asked about her family’s discussions with the US government regarding her brother’s imprisonment, Elizabeth Whelan said, “I think we’ve made it pretty clear – that as far as I’m concerned, at least – my brother is worth more, has a greater value than any Russian criminal.”
“Russia was a place that paid us a lot of money for our talent, more than being here in our own country,” McCoughtry told CNN on Friday. My years overseas made me rich, but not because of the WNBA. I would make my entire salary overseas in a single month.
Less than 1% of corporate sponsorship funding is directed to women’s sports, which has been the case for too long.
The NBA was established in 1995 and the WNBA was established in 1996. Still, she added the organization is working on a three-to-five-year plan to drive up players’ pay.
Even though the average tenure in the NBA is more than five years, Engelbert believes that players will still continue to play overseas.
“We’re never going to preclude them from making more money in leagues outside the US during our offseason. We want them to come and play at the highest level once they come back here.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/10/us/brittney-griner-release-us-arrival-saturday/index.html
Britney-Ginerer Arrival-Sunday: How a Cuban Business Executive Learns to Live in the United States
People will watch if the women are promoted like the men. “Once we get the brand partnerships behind us and promoting us and people know who we are, they’ll come to watch. It will grow.”
Toledo, a Citgo executive, was released in October as part of a prisoner swap after being taken into custody while on a business trip to Venezuela.
After he was freed, Toledo said, he was part of a program in San Antonio that involved six days with a group of psychologists. He says the program was “extremely important” for his reintegration and hopes Griner can take advantage of similar resources.
When I first arrived in San Antonio, I was enamored with the freedom and smell of freedom. And you never think about any aspects as a consequence of your captivity. He said that when you get into the normal life, you notice it means a challenge.
Toledo had to rebuild relationships with family members after he spent five years in captivity, including grandchildren who were only babies at the time.
Toledo experienced health issues, including trouble sleeping, after returning to the US, and saw everyday tasks like driving become sources of anxiety.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/11/us/brittney-griner-us-arrival-sunday/index.html
The Memories of BG Griner, the First Major League Player to be Released From the Prisoner Exchange Program in Russia and the United States
“It’s very important to feel the presence of your family, the love of your family, and let the family love you. He said the feel of love is important.
As part of the prisoner exchange between Russia and the US, Griner was released. The exchange on Thursday, which took months to negotiate, marked an end to nearly 10 months of confinement after the basketball star was arrested on drug charges at a Russian airport in February and then sentenced to nine years in prison.
My heart was made whole thanks to the collective efforts of many. I’m humbled by their hearts. To care for another, a stranger to some, a friend to some— is humanity in its purest form!” The wife of Griner wrote.
“As BG and I start our journey to heal our minds, body, and spirits— I wanted to personally say thank you to some of the hands; seen and unseen, that helped make it possible for me to see my wife again!” her statement continued.
Griner’s friend, WNBA player Angel McCoughtry, said she knows Griner will need time and space, but believes she’ll eventually return to the basketball court.
We missed her last year. It wasn’t the same without her. We don’t begin until May, so she has a few months to get her shape back, and get back in the swing of things. I think she would play if I had a say in it. I think she wants to get back out there and just feel loved again by the fans.”