Brittney Griner’s appeal has been rejected.
Per a report from the Associated Press, Griner’s appeal in response to her nine-year sentence was rejected in Russian court on Tuesday. Thus, the sentence will be upheld, although the Moscow court in question is reported to have also said that the length of the sentence “will be recalculated” to include the time she spent detained before going to trial. Bloomberg writes that the 32-year-old will soon “leave pre-trial detention near Moscow and be sent to serve her prison term in a penal colony elsewhere in Russia.”
In August, Griner’s legal team filed an appeal following a conviction earlier that month in connection with the possession of a small amount of hash oil. In a statement shared in response to Griner’s conviction, President Joe Biden said this move by the Russian court marked an “unacceptable” development.
“Today, American citizen Brittney Griner received a prison sentence that is one more reminder of what the world already knew: Russia is wrongfully detaining Brittney,” Biden said at the time.
The U.S. government has maintained this stance throughout coverage of Griner’s detainment, which began with her arrest at a Moscow airport in February. Prior to the detainment, Griner had played for the region’s UMMC Ekaterinburg team.
Griner’s detainment has remained a source of global criticism, as have the larger issues surrounding it. At one point, Dennis Rodman had plans to travel to Russia to offer assistance in securing Griner’s release. However, later that same month, it was reported that Rodman would actually not be making such a trip.
Breanna Stewart, meanwhile, has been among the fellow athletes who have pushed for Griner’s release. In a post shared to Twitter on Monday, the Seattle Storm player noted how long Griner had already been detained at that point, tagging President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in the process.
