Russia says it traded American basketball player Brittney Griner for Russian trafficker Viktor Bout
WNBA star and two-time Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner looks through bars as she listens to the verdict while standing in a cell in a courtroom in Khimki, just outside Moscow, Russia, Thursday, August 4, 2022. © Evgenia Novozhenina / AP
Text by: RFI Follow
1 min
US President Joe Biden confirmed Thursday that the player, detained in Russia since February, was now "
safe
" and "
en route
" to the United States, following a prisoner exchange with Moscow.
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Russia announced on Thursday that it had exchanged with Washington the American basketball player Brittney Griner, imprisoned for cannabis trafficking, against the famous Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, detained in the United States for more than ten years.
“
On December 8, 2022, at Abu Dhabi airport, the exchange procedure of Russian citizen Viktor Bout for American citizen Brittney Griner, who were respectively serving sentences in penal institutions in the United States and Russia, was successfully completed
,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Telegram.
The 32-year-old athlete was
sentenced last August to nine years in prison
.
She had been transferred in November to a penal colony in Russia to serve her sentence.
The star of the WNBA (the American women's basketball league) was arrested in February at a Moscow airport with a vaporizer and liquid containing cannabis.
“
A few moments ago I spoke with Brittney Griner.
She is safe.
She is on a plane.
She is on her way to the United States
, ”tweeted the American president.
Moments ago I spoke to Brittney Griner.
She is safe.
She is on a plane.
She is on her way home.
pic.twitter.com/FmHgfzrcDT
— President Biden (@POTUS) December 8, 2022
(
With
AFP)
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