Brittney Griner released in prisoner swap for Russian arms dealer [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• WNBA star Brittney Griner has been released in a one-for-one prisoner swap with arms dealer Viktor Bout.
• The deal did not include the release of Paul Whelan, who is in Russian prison for fraudulent charges.
• Bout, nicknamed “the merchant of death,” had been serving a 25-year prison sentence in the U.S. for conspiracy to kill US citizens and officials.

Russia has released WNBA star Brittney Griner in a one-for-one prisoner swap for arms dealer Viktor Bout.

In February 2022, Griner was heading on a flight back to New York when she was stopped at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport. A scan of her luggage revealed that she had cartridges containing liquid with hashish oil.

On August 4, she was sentenced to nine years in prison on drug smuggling charges.

Last week, President Joe Biden reached an agreement for a one-for-one prisoner exchange. On Thursday, Biden announced Griner’s release in a Twitter post that read, “Moments ago I spoke to Brittney Griner. She is safe. She is on a plane. She is on her way home.”

Biden celebrated Griner’s release in a statement from the White House alongside Vice President Kamala Harris and Griner’s wife Cherelle. He said, “this was a day we’d worked for for a long time.” He thanked everyone involved in the effort to secure the release of Griner, who “is in good spirits and relieved to finally be heading home.”

The exchange was made in the United Arab Emirates.

Arms dealer Viktor Bout, nicknamed “the merchant of death,” had been serving a 25-year prison sentence in the U.S. after a 2011 federal conviction for conspiracy to kill US citizens and officials. He was also found guilty of supplying weapons to a foreign terrorist organization.

According to Attorney Preet Bharara, “He aimed to sell those weapons to terrorists for the purpose of killing Americans.”

The deal did not include the release of American corporate security executive and former Marine Paul Whelan, who is in Russian prison for fraudulent charges.

Cherelle thanked the Biden administration for making her family whole again, but acknowledged that “there are still people out there who are enduring what I endured the last nine months.” She added, “BG and I will remain committed to the work of getting every American home including Paul.”

Biden noted that “we have not forgotten about” Whelan, and vowed to continue working for his release. He explained that Russia treated his case “differently,” and it “was not a choice of which American to bring home.”

Source: The U.S. Sun