The Russian authorities probably want Brittney Griner to rot in jail as Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov spoke on her arrest and gave no sign of her release date. According to Peskov, Griner isn’t a hostage via TJB;
On Monday (June 20) Vladimir Putin’s (Russia’s president) top spokesman,Dmitry Peskov, showed no sign of indication that Griner, 31, will be released from prison soon. In a recent interview,Dmitry Peskov denied Giner’s label as a Russian hostage.
According to Dmitry Peskov, they do not intend to show favoritism being that there were “hundreds and hundreds of Russian citizens that were sentenced for carrying hashish.”
Peskov says:
“Why should we make an exemption for a foreign citizen?”
In May, Griner was reclassified by the State Department as “wrongfully detained.” She was transferred oversight of her case to the State Department Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs.
Peskov added:
“She violated Russian law, and now she’s being prosecuted. It’s not about being a hostage. There are lots of American citizens here. They’re enjoying their freedoms … but you have to obey the laws.”
Griner’s detention has been extended three times. The Phoenix Mercury star center’s recent extension leaves her incarcerated until at least July 2nd. Griner’s agent, Lindsay Kagawa Colas, previously stated:
“It remains clear that BG is being used as a political pawn.”
Griner’s wife doesn’t think the US Government is doing enough.
Brittney Griner tried to call her wife 11 times on their anniversary, but the U.S. government failed to connect the call. Cherelle Griner is livid.
Saturday was the fourth anniversary of Brittney and Cherelle Griner’s marriage. The two have not spoken in four months as Brittney has been detained in Russia on cannabis charges.
Cherelle Griner told the AP on Monday that their Saturday phone call had been planned, but she learned that Brittney attempted to call her almost a dozen times, only no one from the U.S. embassy in Moscow was staffed to patch it through.
“I was distraught. I was hurt. I was done, fed up,” Cherelle Griner told The Associated Press, of how she felt on the anniversary. “I’m pretty sure I texted BG’s agent and was like: ‘I don’t want to talk to anybody. It’s going to take me a minute to get my emotions together, and just tell everybody I’m unavailable right now.’ Because it just knocked me out. I wasn’t well, I’m still not well.”
The State Department told the AP: “We deeply regret that Brittney Griner was unable to speak with her wife because of a logistical error.”
Nonetheless, Cherelle Griner said she was “very pissed” considering this phone call had been scheduled for two weeks, and no one had warned her that staffing issues could arise due to it being on a weekend.
“I find it unacceptable and I have zero trust in our government right now. If I can’t trust you to catch a Saturday call outside of business hours, how can I trust you to actually be negotiating on my wife’s behalf to come home? Because that’s a much bigger ask than to catch a Saturday call.”
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