Griner, a center for the Phoenix Mercury who played in Yekaterinburg during the WNBA offseason, was arrested in February at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport after vapor containers containing cannabis oil were found in her luggage. He was sentenced on August 4. Lawyer Maria Blagovolina said Monday that the appeal had been filed, but declined to elaborate. Alexander Boykov, a lawyer at the Moscow Legal Center who represented Griner in court, told Reuters the appeal would be based primarily on alleged violations during the investigation. Griner’s defense team argued in court that some of her case files were drafted without being translated into English for her. It was unclear how soon an appeal could be heard. An official call may indicate that no political agreement has been reached on a prisoner exchange involving Griner between Russia and the US. Russian officials have said they will consider an exchange, but only after Griner’s appeals process is exhausted and her sentence takes effect. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Blagovolina and Boykov said after the sentencing that the sentence was excessive and that in similar cases defendants have been sentenced to an average of about five years, with about a third of them receiving parole. Griner admitted to having the cannabis oil containers in her luggage, but said she had accidentally packed them in a hurry and had no criminal intent. Her defense team presented written statements that she had been prescribed cannabis to treat pain. Before her sentencing, the US State Department said Griner was wrongfully detained. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken took the unusual step of publicly revealing in July that the US had made a “substantial offer” to bring Griner home, along with Paul Whelan, an American serving a 16-year sentence in Russia for espionage . . He did not elaborate, but the AP and other news organizations reported that the US had offered to release Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer serving a 25-year sentence in the US who once earned the nickname “Dealer of Death”. . On Sunday, a senior Russian diplomat said exchange talks had taken place. “This rather sensitive issue of the exchange of convicted Russian and American citizens is being discussed through the channels designated by our presidents. These individuals are, indeed, discussed. The Russian side has long sought the release of Viktor Bout. The details should be left to the professionals, based on the ‘do no harm’ principle,” Alexander Dartsev, head of the Foreign Ministry’s North American department, told the state-run Tass news agency. With Reuters
