WNBA All-Star Brittney Griner arrested in Russia on drug charges [merged thread]

[amb3096]

Small scale would be enough for immediate personal consumption. She was entering Russia. I'm presuming for her basketball season, so who knows for how long before she's back to the US. So it's not unreasonable to think that she had enough supply to last her for awhile...which would probably be more than the amount that qualifies as "for dealing". Her worst case scenario is she gets charged with possession with intent to distribute, or whatever the Russian equivalent is. And that would be years.

 

[TRest]

Small scale would be enough for immediate personal consumption. She was entering Russia. I'm presuming for her basketball season, so who knows for how long before she's back to the US. So it's not unreasonable to think that she had enough supply to last her for awhile...which would probably be more than the amount that qualifies as "for dealing". Her worst case scenario is she gets charged with possession with intent to distribute, or whatever the Russian equivalent is. And that would be years.

Or, the “evidence” was planted in her luggage and she is SOL trying to get a fair hearing as a relatively high profile US citizen. I don’t know if either scenario can be ruled out right now. And no, I am not a fan.

 

[sun]

According to the Guardian, the alleged contraban was detected by drug-sniffing dogs.

Brittney Griner: American women’s basketball superstar detained in Russia

Brittney Griner, one of America’s most decorated women’s basketball players, has been detained by Russian Federal Customs Service authorities

www.theguardian.com

 

[UConnCat]

Very interesting twitter thread by Kate Fagan

 

[UConnCat]

 

[UConnCat]

 

[amb3096]

Or, the “evidence” was planted in her luggage and she is SOL trying to get a fair hearing as a relatively high profile US citizen. I don’t know if either scenario can be ruled out right now. And no, I am not a fan.

Her agent was quoted as confirming that Brittney was detained, but unable to provide comment since it was a legal matter. There was no statement saying that she was not guilty or anything of that nature. Could the evidence have been planted? Maybe. Meaning she was targeted as she was entering Russia and was appropriately steered to the security gate that happened to have staff that was in on the "Frame Brittney" operation. Seems like a stretch. You'd think the Russian government would go for a better target than a minor league athlete that is unknown to the vast majority of the USA.

Russia is a horrible corrupt government, but that doesn't mean that Brittney also is incapable of getting busted for breaking one of their rules in a scenario that could have been avoided. I don't know how the story ends, but I think she may have a long road ahead of her. Russia will be unlikely to cut her a break what with the invasion going on and the sanctions against them.

 

[UConnCat]

Very worrisome

 

[Bigboote]

Or, the “evidence” was planted in her luggage and she is SOL trying to get a fair hearing as a relatively high profile US citizen. I don’t know if either scenario can be ruled out right now. And no, I am not a fan.

Planted evidence (or none) was the first thing that occurred to me. Another is that she had CBD oil or something that may be considered illegal in Russia but not elsewhere. I've known people who were caught trying to get a joint or two into countries that we have always considered civilized, and who were subjected to treatment that we didn't think it was possible to get away with until the last few years. I'm sure your average world-class basketball player isn't more than one or two people removed from others with similar experiences.

I hope she's safe.

 

[FormerCTrez]

Or, the “evidence” was planted in her luggage and she is SOL trying to get a fair hearing as a relatively high profile US citizen. I don’t know if either scenario can be ruled out right now. And no, I am not a fan.

TRest, when I first heard about Brittney’s arrest in Russia, I thought the same thing, that the “evidence” was planted. I could be wrong, but we’re talking about Russia here. Still, praying for a miracle for her.

 

[TRest]

TRest, when I first heard about Brittney’s arrest in Russia, I thought the same thing, that the “evidence” was planted. I could be wrong, but we’re talking about Russia here. Still, praying for a miracle for her.

Yeah, it's not exactly a high integrity government. I wouldn't discount their need to retaliate for the Olympic drug testing scandals as factoring into this.

 

[WestsideWaltz]

This is very weird. There is no exact timeline but Griner's last game was Feb 1 in Spain, so she was flying back with her team if the incident happened after that.

 

[cockhrnleghrn]

Man that prison time for that would be brutal. Seems like Griner just made a really ill thought decision or oversight more than anything else. I hope this works out okay for her.

You're assuming the charges weren't trumped up. It's a very difficult situation because of the situation in Ukraine.