“As I sit here in a Russian prison, alone with my thoughts and without the protection of my wife, family, friends, Olympic sportswear, or any achievement, I am terrified that I will have to stay here forever,” writes Brittney Griner in the letter, which was released Monday by its US representatives.
Griner’s trial began last Friday. The 31-year-old sportswoman was arrested at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport in mid-February, the day before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, because, according to the security service, she was in possession of capsules of cannabis oil. It is an illegal narcotic in Russia. It can carry a penalty of up to ten years in prison.
heel
In the US, it is suggested that Griner was only arrested because she is a sports star. Russia would like to put her in the US with her and possibly exchange her for a Russian prisoner in the US later on.
“I understand you have a lot on your plate,” Griner wrote to Biden. “But don’t forget me and the other Americans imprisoned. Please do everything you can to make us come home. I voted for you for the first time in 2020. I still have so much good to do with my freedom that only you can restore,” Griner wrote.