In today’s Brittney Griner appeared in Moscow court for the trial in which she is a defendant, postponed twice already due to the absence of two witnesses. The American player, discovered in possession of a empty bottle of cannabis oil at the airport last February, pleaded guilty, as reported by Reuters. The trial, of course, is just beginning and is not expected to be concluded anytime soon, despite Griner’s admission.
However, the player, who has now become an object in the hands of the Russians to increase her own clout in international disputes, said that she did not bring the incriminated flask into Russia on purpose, but packed it so quickly that she did not realize it was there. Some U.S. officials have described the trial as a “theater” whose ending is already known: Griner faces up to 10 years in prison on drug trafficking charges.
According to what ESPN wrote, the guilty plea made by Brittney Griner would serve a specific purpose: to make a prisoner exchange, currently the only viable option to free the player, more likely. Rumors had circulated in recent weeks that the Russians were demanding in exchange the release of an arms dealer held in the United States, but so far they have remained precisely only rumors.
