Brittney Griner should be helped as much as possible. But she committed a crime and was not arrested on a false charge as has happened to other Americans in Russia, including Paul Whalen, who is still behind bars.
Being captive in jail or prison must be awful, and it can be even worse if the confinement is in a foreign country. Visits from loved ones probably are rare, if not impossible, and the government may not be “a friend” of the United States. Your only contact with other Americans is likely to be someone who works at the American Embassy, a relationship built on politics and diplomacy, not love. It’s necessary and appreciated but not warm and fuzzy.
Brittney Griner has been imprisoned in Russia for four months and just pleaded guilty to bringing hashish into the country. According to Reuters and Russian media reports, this is what she told the judge at the second hearing of her trial.
Brittany Griner: I’d like to plead guilty, your honor. But there was no intent. I didn’t want to break the law.
Griner explained that she had packed in a rush and the vape cartridges made it into her bag by accident. That said, if Griner is found guilty, she could be sentenced to ten years imprisonment.
As a seasoned college, Olympic, and professional basketball star, Griner surely knows that it matters not if a player intends to commit a foul. Still, when she does commit a foul, the official blows the whistle, and a penalty is assessed. The act, not the intent, is called.
Griner and many others have pleaded to U.S. officials to help her. She even sent a letter to President Biden asking him to intervene. But she admits to the foul of breaking Russian law. She was entering Russia to make money doing what she does well and says that she packed in a hurry.
What? Griner wants us to believe that she rushed her packing for an extended period of playing basketball in a foreign country. I doubt her veracity in this explanation. Yes, she is a fellow American and should be helped as much as possible, but not at the expense of Paul Whelan, who, I have no doubt, has languished since 2018 in a Russian cell on a false charge. He needs attention first.
Griner calculated on her fame. A bad calculation, I think. She now pays the price for her act of breaking Russian law.
