In handcuffs and in tears, Griner says: ‘I love my family’

Reuters

KHIMKI, Russia -U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner said “I love my family” as she was led out of a Russian courtroom in handcuffs after being jailed for nine years on drugs charges, a Reuters reporter at the court said.

Her voice quavering and visibly in tears, Griner said she understood the sentence before being led away.

Outside the courtroom, Griner’s lawyer Maria Blagovolina said: “She is very upset, very stressed. She can hardly talk. It’s a difficult time for her.”

Related News:   U.S. proposes hostage-to-prisoner ratio in Gaza truce talks, Israeli official says

“When we saw Brittney on Tuesday, we told her ‘see you on Thursday’. She said, ‘see you on doomsday. So it looks like she was right,” Blagovolina said.


Griner was convicted on charges of drugs possession and smuggling after she entered Russia with cannabis-infused vape cartridges. During her closing remarks, she said it had been “an honest mistake”.


(Reporting by Reuters; editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Angus MacSwan)

tagreuters.com2022binary_LYNXMPEI730V5-BASEIMAGE

tagreuters.com2022binary_LYNXMPEI730V6-BASEIMAGE

You appear to be using an ad blocker

Shore News Network is a free website that does not use paywalls or charge for access to original, breaking news content. In order to provide this free service, we rely on advertisements. Please support our journalism by disabling your ad blocker for this website.