US says WNBA star wrongfully held in Russia

Voice of America

The Biden administration on Tuesday, May 3, said an American professional basketball player being held in Russia on charges she had illegal marijuana vaping cartridges in her luggage is being wrongfully detained.

That could mean the U.S. is taking a more aggressive approach to secure the release of Brittney Griner, who has been held since she was detained at the Moscow airport in February.

Now her case will be handled by the State Department’s Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, which negotiates hostage release cases.

“The Department of State has determined that the Russian Federation has wrongfully detained U.S. citizen Brittney Griner. With this determination, the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens will lead the interagency team for securing Brittney Griner’s release,” a State Department spokesperson told ESPN.

Before today’s announcement, the U.S. had not officially said the WNBA player was being wrongfully detained.

“Brittney has been detained for 75 days and our expectation is that the White House do whatever is necessary to bring her home,” said Griner’s agent, Lindsay Kagawa Colas.

The WNBA also issued a statement about the case.

“As we begin the 2022 season, we are keeping Brittney at the forefront of what we do through the game of basketball and in the community,” WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in a statement. “We continue to work on bringing Brittney home and are appreciative of the support the community has shown BG and her family during this extraordinarily challenging time.”

It is unclear what made the Biden administration change its stand in the case, but it had come under pressure from members of Congress urging action to secure Griner’s release.

Some information in this report comes from The Associated Press. (VOA) – bny 

Popular

PBBM: No ‘political advantage’ behind disclosure of flood control mess in SONA 2025

By Dean Aubrey Caratiquet In the fifth episode of the BBM Podcast aired on Monday, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. shared his insights on the...

PBBM touts education as the key towards national, social progress

By Dean Aubrey Caratiquet “Every project, every policy, every program, every peso must move the needle for Filipino families.” Halfway through his term as the country’s...

On Teachers’ Month, DepEd notes good news for teachers

By Brian Campued As the Philippines joins the global community in honoring the invaluable contributions of teachers in shaping the next generation’s leaders and professionals,...

Phivolcs identifies fault that caused magnitude 6.9 Cebu quake

By Brian Campued State seismologists have located the source of the powerful offshore earthquake that jolted northern Cebu and the rest of Visayas on Sept....