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The American basketball star Brittney Griner testified in a Russian court docket on Wednesday, in a case that has turned her into an unlikely pawn in a diplomatic tussle between Russia and the USA because the conflict in Ukraine has created the deepest rift between the 2 nuclear powers because the finish of the Chilly Battle.
Carrying a long-sleeved T-shirt, Ms. Griner had her wrists shackled in entrance of her as she was led into the courtroom, flanked by a coterie of Russian safety brokers, together with some sporting bulletproof vests, their faces lined by balaclavas.
The tense environment on the courthouse mirrored the fraught geopolitical second. Washington continues to ship weapons to the Ukrainian navy and has imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia, and even the decades-long partnership in outer house seem like ending as Moscow introduced that it might depart the Worldwide Area Station after its present dedication expires on the finish of 2024.
The Russian authorities detained Ms. Griner, 31, a two-time Olympic gold medalist who performs for the Phoenix Mercury, a couple of week earlier than President Vladimir V. Putin’s forces invaded Ukraine in February. Russia accused her of getting two vape cartridges of cannabis oil in her baggage when she arrived at an airport close to Moscow. Russia didn’t make her detention public till after the invasion started.
Ms. Griner had been touring to Russia to play with a staff in Yekaterinburg, about 900 miles east of Moscow, throughout the W.N.B.A. low season. She was charged with willfully smuggling the vape cartridges, violating Russian legal guidelines prohibiting the importation of narcotics.
She now faces a potential 10-year sentence.
Ms. Griner pleaded responsible this month, saying that she had made a mistake and unintentionally carried a banned substance into Russia as a result of she had packed in a rush. Within the Russian justice system, trials go on even when defendants plead responsible. Ms. Griner’s attorneys have mentioned they hope her plea would make the court docket extra lenient.
On Wednesday, her protection staff continued to current proof that she had not supposed to interrupt the regulation.
They’ve argued that she didn’t intend to smuggle medicine into Russia and that, like many different worldwide athletes, she had used hashish to assist ease ache from accidents. Additionally they introduced a medical notice from Ms. Griner’s physician recommending hashish to assist ease persistent ache.
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