The American basketball player and Olympic and world champion
Brittney Griner
, accused of drug possession and smuggling,
today admitted her responsibility for the presence of cannabis among her belongings
, but criticized the irregularities committed during her detention in Russia.
"I had no intention of introducing anything illegal, but I take responsibility for what they found in my bags," Griner said at the court hearing in
Khimki
,
Moscow
region .
The player, who appeared again sitting in a cell,
stressed that she uses cannabis as an analgesic to relieve the pain in her knees
, but never during the competition.
"I wasn't cured yet"
He also admitted knowing that it is illegal to bring cannabis into Russian territory, but cited tiredness and rush to pack as an excuse.
"During the search
I myself did not expect to see that preparation. I had no desire to violate any Russian law. I think I was hasty, I was not yet fully cured
(of covid-19), that's why I put everything in the bag," he commented. .
In her defense, she argued that, although the US recommended not traveling to Russia, she flew to Moscow so as not to leave her team, the Yekaterinburg UGMK, stranded.
"I admit my guilt for what happened, although I didn't want to.
I understand the accusation, but I didn't want to keep anything
," she said.
abuse at the airport
In turn,
he denounced that last February, officials and customs agents at Sheremétevo airport forced him to sign documents without explanation
and whose content he did not know because they were written in Russian, without the presence of a lawyer.
He also assured that, after he communicated with his wife and agent in the US, his mobile phone was seized and his rights were not read to him, after which he was handcuffed.
The trial will continue on August 2
with the questioning of the specialist who examined the cannabis found in Griner's suitcases.
"I'm terrified"
At the time, the US State Department condemned Griner's arrest, while his lawyers informed the court that cannabis was prescribed to his client for medicinal use.
Griner wrote a letter to US President
Joe Biden
earlier this month, saying she was
"terrified" that she would have to stay in Russia forever
and asked for his help in freeing her and other Americans held abroad.
Next, the White House reported that Biden has taken the release of the WNBA player "personally".
The 31-year-old athlete, double world and Olympic champion with her country,
was arrested on February 17 at the Sheremétevo airport in Moscow
after customs officials found cannabis oil in her suitcases.
Subsequently, the player was arrested for drug possession and smuggling and has been in preventive detention ever since.
The Kremlin spokesman,
Dmitri Peskov
, denied that the criminal proceedings against the basketball player have a political background.
Talks
According to the local press, Russia and the United States could be negotiating the exchange of the player for the Russian arms dealer
Víktor But
, known as the "merchant of death" and who is serving a sentence in a US prison.
But is serving 25 years in prison for, among other things, conspiring to kill US citizens and selling weapons to Colombia's former FARC guerrilla organization.
Russia and the US recently exchanged US student
Trevor Reed
, sentenced to nine years in prison for resisting arrest, for Russian pilot
Konstantin Yaroshenko
, sentenced to 20 years in the US for drug smuggling.
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