Brittney Griner: Russian Court Rejects Jail Term Appeal
A Russian court has rejected an appeal by US basketball star Brittney Griner against her nine-year jail term for drugs charges.
The court near Moscow upheld the sentence, with the state prosecutor calling it “fair”.
The double Olympic winner apologised for her “honest mistake” in her appeal hearing via video link, saying it had been “very, very stressful”.
Griner, 32, was convicted in August of smuggling and possessing cannabis oil.
It was not immediately clear whether all legal routes had been exhausted.
The sportswoman’s lawyer, Alexander Boykov, said his team hoped that a prisoner exchange would be possible.
In August, the Kremlin posed the possibility of a prisoner swap between the US and Russia involving the basketball player.
