President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris spoke Wednesday with Cheryl Greener, the wife of WNBA star Brittney Greener, according to a statement released by the White House. Brittney Griner has been detained in Russia on drug charges since February and her trial began on Friday.
During the call, Biden read a draft of a letter he plans to send to Brittney Greener.
“The president has offered his support to Cheryl and Brittney’s family and is committed to providing them with all possible assistance as his administration pursues every opportunity to bring Brittney home,” the statement said.
The US State Department said in May that Brittney Greener had been “wrongfully detained”. She will work to secure her release regardless of the outcome of the trial.
She has been in custody in Russia since February 17, accused by Russian authorities of keeping a vape cartridge containing hashish oil in her luggage at an airport near Moscow. On Monday, Brittney Greener sent a handwritten letter to Biden asking for his help.
“I am terrified that I could stay here forever,” Griner said in an excerpt of the letter shared by her representatives. She continued: “I realize you are dealing with so much, but please don’t forget about me and the other American detainees. Please do whatever you can to bring us home.
Wednesday’s statement from the White House described Brittney Greener as “unlawfully detained in Russia under intolerable circumstances.”
It also said that Biden had instructed his national security team to maintain “regular contact” with Greener’s family, and that Secretary of State Anthony J. Blinken and Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser, recently spoke with Cheryl Greener.
On Tuesday, Cheryl Greener appeared on “CBS Mornings” and spoke about her disappointment that Brittney Greener’s family has not received a response from the president to Brittney Greener’s letter.
“I will not be silent any longer,” Cheryl Greener said. “My wife is struggling and we need to help her.”
Women were able to communicate with each other only through letters. Cheryl Greener told The Associated Press in June that a scheduled call with Brittney Greener never reached her because of a personnel problem at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. She said she had not spoken to her wife since the day she was detained.
Experts said Brittney Griner’s trial is likely to end in a guilty verdict. She faces 10 years in a penal colony if convicted.
“There’s a bias mainly because the Russian judicial system says they really shouldn’t go to trial unless the accused is going to be convicted,” said William Pomeranz, acting director of the Kenan Institute and an expert on Russian law. “There is no real idea or expectation that the defendant may be innocent. In fact, there is no presumption of innocence.
One way to secure the release of an American detained abroad is through a prisoner exchange, which experts say is the most likely scenario for Griner’s release.
Trevor Reed, a former US Marine who had been jailed in Russia on assault charges since August 2019, was released in a prisoner swap in April. Reid was sentenced to nine years in prison in July 2020.
The US State Department has warned Americans not to travel to Russia due to the war in Ukraine, “the potential for harassment of American citizens by Russian state security officials” and “the isolation of American citizens in Russia by Russian government security officials, including for detention.” among other reasons.
Griner was in Russia because she was playing for UMMC Yekaterinburg, a team known for being among the highest-paid women’s basketball teams in the world. She does more there than playing for the WNBA
Greiner has played for the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA since the franchise first drafted her in 2013. She won a WNBA championship in 2014 and won two gold medals with the USA Women’s National Basketball Team.
After Griner’s arrest, her initial supporters were advised not to draw too much attention to the situation in hopes that her detention would not be politicized. Russia has long had frosty relations with the United States and invaded Ukraine soon after Greener was detained.
But when the US State Department said in May that Greener had been wrongfully detained, that strategy changed. Cheryl Greener, WNBA officials and WNBA players spoke out. WNBA teams are honoring Griner this season with decals of her initials and jersey number, 42, on each of the league’s 12 courts.
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