During these Christmas dates, Brittney Griner has urged citizens to send messages of encouragement to Paul Whelana businessman and ex-US marine, held in a Russian prison since 2018 on heavy charges of espionage. grinner knows better than anyone the hardships he must be suffering Whelan. Like him, she was converted by the regime of putin into a pawn he ended up exchanging for the world’s biggest arms dealer, Victor Bout. Thanks to this, to these practices typical of periods of war, she regained the freedom that she lost for 10 months since she was arrested at a Moscow airport accused of possession and trafficking of narcotics. All for two vaporizers with cannabis oil that she carried in her suitcase by prescription in the US. Cannabis is illegal in Russia.
grinner32, is arguably the best basketball player in the world, the Lebron James wave Stephen Curry of the WNBA. A black athlete, 2.06 and 51 standing, very involved in the LGTBI cause. She has twice won Olympic gold. She has been a champion of the American professional league. She also from the university league. She has won the highest individual awards. She’s a six-time All-Star and can dunk the rim, which is hard to see in women’s basketball. Nike also made her the first openly lesbian athlete she sponsored.
Being at the top of her sport doesn’t mean she’s rich. Your contract with phoenix mercury It’s enough to live on but many players choose to play in other leagues in winter and in Russia, before the war, they paid very well. That’s where Griner returned on February 17, just a week before the cynically called ‘special operation’ broke out in Ukraine, when she was arrested and transferred to a prison 70 kilometers from Moscow. Joe Biden He called for his immediate release, but Putin had other plans.
On the public agenda
Griner largely disappeared from the public eye until August. He could only speak to his lawyer. And when he reemerged it was during a sham-wrapped trial. She was sentenced to 9 years in prison, but the next day the Russian Foreign Minister already put the idea of a prisoner exchange on the table. Biden wanted to include Whelan and Putin responded by transferring Griner to a kind of concentration camp to strain the negotiation. Whelan lost and Griner was released on December 8.
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During his hell, his girlfriend Cherelle Watson made sure that his case did not disappear from the news agenda. She put unspeakable pressure on the US administration and found an echo. The WNBA displayed the letters BG (the initials) and the number 42 that he always wears in every game last season. In the NBA Finals, the Celtics and Warriors players warmed up with a jersey with his name on it. Lebron James and other athletes called on Biden to act. Also Hillary Clinton.
After several days in a Texas medical center to evaluate his physical and mental condition, Griner said he wants to play again in Phoenix. By the way, he said, he wishes to thank all those who pushed for his release on every field. Cause he now is he get it too Whelan.