Brittney Griner has been released from a Russian prison in a one-for-one swap for international arms dealer Viktor Bout. The swap was negotiated in Moscow recently, and President Biden approved the deal sometime last week. WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert had this to say about Griner coming home.
“First, grateful to the administration,the state department. We’ve known negotiations were intensifying and a solution was in sight. I was personally emotional at today’s events because you never know until the end.
These are geopolitically complex times. And the moment– and I’m overjoyed that BG will be reunited with her parents. Her mom and dad, as a mom myself, I can’t imagine the anguish they’ve been going through. And obviously, you saw Cherelle (Griner) at the White House this morning as events unfolded.And let’s not forget BG’s fellow WNBA players.
They advocated for her every day, and the whole women’s basketball system. I want to thank you, the media, for keeping BG at the top of your coverage because that was helpful. And to the WNBA fans as well, who continued to advocate for BG in getting her home.
So really grateful today. It’s a great day. And we look forward to BG having her time and space and recovering from this whole ordeal, awful ordeal. But we’re grateful, again, to the administration, the state department, for getting her home.”
Cathy Engelbert
Biden talked to Griner by phone from the oval office, where Cherelle Griner, Vice President Kamala Harris, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken were present.
Brittney Griner’s wife, Cherelle, spoke at the White House following the news of Brittney’s release from Russia. pic.twitter.com/9STErB8ow2
— ESPN (@espn) December 8, 2022
Since Feb. 17, 2022, Brittney Griner was detained at the Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport. She had vape cartridges containing marijuana concentrate. Griner was sentenced to nine years in a Russian Prison in October.
The WNBA Star had been moved to the penal colony in the Mordovia region of Russia, where prisoners are forced into hard labor and often abused. Now Griner is home with family.
Follow me on Twitter: @raiderway83 and read other amazing articles on Beyond Women’s Sports.
