After months of detention in Russia, WNBA star Brittney Griner is finally back home in Texas with her family.
Griner, a two-time Olympic basketball gold medalist and player for the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury, was arrested in Russia in February on drug possession charges as she was leaving the country. Officials arrested her after finding hash oil in her luggage — a crime that carries up to 10 years in prison there.
Griner was successfully exchanged through a prisoner exchange for his release Victor Booth, a Russian arms dealer nicknamed “The Merchant of Death.” Bout was convicted by a New York jury of four counts that included conspiracy to kill American citizens, according to the New York Times. The Times reported that Bout had eluded capture for years and was “perhaps the highest-profile Russian held in the US.”
Why did the trade demand that the US release Bout, whom intelligence officials describe as “one of the most dangerous people on the face of the earth”?
Alexandra Meiseassociate professor at Northeastern Law School, says that negotiating the release of a wrongfully imprisoned person is always a delicate matter—the kind of impossible math that cannot—and should not—be reduced to “weighing one life against another.”
“That's why I caution against treating these situations as transactions or mathematical exercises,” says Meise. “Individual human lives and well-being are at stake. It is not limited to a simple equation weighing one life against another, or a particular charge under one legal system against a charge in another system. It's not that simple.”
Moreover, negotiations of this kind always take place “within complex geopolitical and diplomatic settings, with many moving parts and evolving factual contexts,” he says.
Many human rights advocates have highlighted the fact that Griner, a black queer woman, encountered “unknown variables” while in Russian custody. Russian President Vladimir Putin has cracked down on what he describes as “gay propaganda”. new draconian lawsfurther jeopardizing the safety and well-being of LGBTQ people in Russia.
“I have no doubt that there are many people on both sides of the negotiation who have been working on this for months,” says Meise. “What is, of course, sad at the same time is that they were unable to secure the release of Paul Whelan, who was in custody even longer than Brittney Griner.”
Whelana former Marine and corporate security official, has been detained in Russia on espionage charges that his family and the US government have said are false since 2018. While Whelan said he was disappointed the Biden administration did not do more to secure release, of family expressed support for the Griner deal.
“The State Department made it clear that the choice here was either not to bring Griner home or to bring her home without Whelan,” Maze says.
At least 153 Americans have gone illegally detained by government agencies since 2001, according to recent estimates.
President Joe Biden spoke about Griner's release on Thursday, noting that it took “painful and intense negotiations.”
“I'm glad to say that Brittney is in good spirits,” Biden said. “She is relieved to finally be coming home. And the fact remains that she has lost months of her life, experienced unnecessary trauma, and deserves space, privacy and time with her loved ones to recover and heal.”
The prisoner exchange was the result of mediation efforts by the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, which they said reflected “the mutual and steadfast friendship that binds both countries to the United States of America and the Russian Federation.” CNN.
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said, in a statementthat he “wholeheartedly desires[ed] we could have brought Paul home today on the same plane as Brittney.”
“While we celebrate Brittney's release, Paul Whelan and his family continue to suffer needlessly. Despite our relentless efforts, the Russian government has not yet been willing to put an end to his long overdue unjust detention,” he said.
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