WNBA’s Brittney Griner heads back to Russian court after guilty plea

WNBA star and two-time Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner is escorted to a courtroom for a hearing, in Khimki outside Moscow, Russia, Thursday, July 7, 2022. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

MOSCOW (AP) — American basketball star Brittney Griner is due back in a Russian court Thursday to resume a trial that was jolted last week when she abruptly pleaded guilty to drug possession charges.

In Russia, a guilty plea doesn’t mean that the trial is automatically over. Griner’s defense may put forward arguments during the hearing to mitigate the punishment, or a verdict could be announced. But it wasn’t immediately clear what would happen at the hearing.

Phoenix Mercury centre Brittney Griner. (AP/file)

With the U.S. government under pressure at home to do more to secure her freedom, the guilty plea could be an effort to expedite the court proceedings so any negotiations could move forward. A senior Russian diplomat has said no action could be taken by Moscow until the trial was over.

The Phoenix Mercury center and WNBA all-star was detained at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport in February while returning to play basketball in Russia. Police said they found vape canisters containing cannabis oil in her luggage. In custody ever since, Griner, 31, faces charges that could bring her a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.

In pleading guilty during the previous court hearing on July 7, Griner said she had no intention of committing a crime and had acted unintentionally because she packed for Moscow in a hurry.

U.S. President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken have said they were doing all they could to win the release of Griner, as well as other Americans the U.S. considers “wrongly detained” by Russia, including former Marine Paul Whelan.

Washington may have little leverage with Moscow, though, because of strong animosity over its military operation in Ukraine.

Many US celebrities and other high-profile leaders have called for the release of Griner, demanding that the government “Bring Brittney home.”

Griner’s detention has been authorized through Dec. 20, suggesting the trial could last months. Griner’s lawyers, however, said they expect it to conclude around the beginning of the August.

Her best hope, experts say, is that the Biden administration carries out an exchange by releasing a Russian jailed in the United States. Russian media outlets have linked her case to Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer known as the “Merchant of Death,” who is serving a 25-year federal sentence in Illinois for conspiring to sell weapons to people who said they planned to kill Americans.