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New Delhi: The United States and Russia swapped imprisoned American basketball star Brittney Griner for Russian arms dealer Victor Bout in a dramatic one-on-one prisoner swap at Abu Dhabi airport on Thursday.
A two-time Olympic gold medalist who plays for the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) Phoenix Mercury, Greiner was arrested at Moscow airport on Feb. 17 for her luggage containing marijuana oil, which is illegal in Russia. forbidden.
She was later sentenced to nine years in prison on Aug. 4 in what Washington called a “sham trial” and an “unjust sentence.”
One of the world’s most prolific arms dealers, Viktor Bout was arrested in Thailand in March 2008 on a complaint filed in Manhattan federal court. He was subsequently indicted on four counts in May 2008 and extradited to the Southern District of New York in November 2010.
In April 2012, Bout was sentenced to 25 years in prison by then-U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara on charges of “conspiring to sell hundreds of dollars worth of money to a designated foreign terrorist organization headquartered in Colombia.” million-dollar weapon”.
“The Russian Federation has long been negotiating with the United States on the release of VA Bout. Washington categorically refuses to engage in dialogue on the inclusion of Russia in the exchange program. Nevertheless, the Russian Federation continues to actively work to rescue our compatriots,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday evening. said in a statement posted on its Telegram account.
Last month, Washington claimed that Griner was being transferred from a Moscow prison to a remote penal colony, “yet another injustice to her ongoing injustice and wrongful detention.”
Earlier this week, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said in an interview with CBS’ “Face the Nation”‘s Margaret Brennan that the Biden administration has been actively engaged over the past few months to Griner and Paul Whelan — a former U.S. Marine detained in Russia since 2018 on charges of espionage — soon returned home.
“If I get into the details of anything we’re saying, or the details of anything the Russians are saying and we’re hearing, it’s going to backfire. My resolve is to do it either way, for as long as I need to.” Get people home. My effort, the entire government’s effort, is to get Paul and Britney home,” Blinken said.
After the exchange, U.S. President Joe Biden said it was a day his administration had worked on for a long time.
“I spoke to Britney Greener just now. She is safe. She is on the plane. She is on her way home,” the US president tweeted.
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