Basketball star ‘wrongfully detained’

Madrid: The Biden administration has determined that Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) star Brittney Griner is being wrongfully detained in Russia, meaning the United States will more aggressively work to secure her release even as the legal case against her plays out, the State Department said.

“The US government will continue to undertake efforts to provide appropriate support to Ms Griner,” the department said on Tuesday (yesterday NZ time).

Griner was detained at an airport in February after Russian authorities said a search of her bag revealed vape cartridges containing oil derived from cannabis. Since then, US officials had stopped short of classifying the Phoenix Mercury player as wrongfully detained and said instead that their focus was on ensuring that she had access in jail to American consular affairs officials.

Now, though, US officials have shifted supervision of her case to a State Department section – the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs – that is focused on negotiating for the release of hostages and other Americans classified as being wrongfully detained in other countries.

A consular officer did visit in March.

It is believed that the star made the wrong choices and ended up on the wrong side of the law.

“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.- Stuff