Brittney Griner, a US basketball player, admitted guilt to drug charges in a Russian court but said she didn’t do it on purpose. The gold medalist from the Olympics was held in February at a nearby airport after it was claimed that cannabis oil vape cartridges were discovered in her luggage.

She explained to the court in Khimki, “I was in a rush packing and the cartridges accidentally landed up in my luggage. Her trial started last week on allegations that may land her in jail for ten years. Cherelle Griner, Griner’s wife, had earlier urged Joe Biden to take “whatever steps are required” to achieve her release. Cherelle Griner was informed by Mr. Biden that he was working to obtain a release as quickly as feasible.

The basketball player had already written to the president expressing her fear that “she might remain here forever.” The US has been cautioned by Russian government representatives not to “make noise in public about the case.” According to deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov, “the hype and working on the public, with all the enthusiasm for this genre among modern politicians, today only complicates” the legal process.

“Please accept my guilty plea, your honour. But no intention was present. I wanted to avoid breaking the law, “In English, Brittney Griner addressed the court. She stated that she needed more time to prepare and would prefer to deliver her testimony later. After that, the trial was postponed for a week.

With the WNBA franchise Phoenix Mercury, Griner is one of the most successful players in the women’s professional league in the US. She had gone to Russia in the off-season to play club basketball, and she has played for the EuroLeague team UMMC Ekaterinburg since 2014.

Her high-profile arrest at the Sheremetyevo airport outside of Moscow occurred a week before Russia invaded Ukraine, despite the fact that cannabis oil is illegal in that country.

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