US says Russia wrongfully detained basketball star Brittney Griner, hands case to hostage envoy
- The shift means the US will now work more aggressively to secure the release of the Phoenix Mercury player, who has already been held for 75 days
- 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
The Biden administration has determined that women’s basketball 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, two US officials said Tuesday.
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.
“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.