Brittney Griner: Handwritten appeal for help to Biden

The US basketball player Brittney Griner has been in Russian custody for four and a half months. Now she has personally asked President Biden for help.

US basketball player Brittney Griner, who has been imprisoned in Russia, has sent a letter to her president asking for help. Griner appealed to Joe Biden in the handwritten document that she feared she might never be able to return home. The 31-year-old was arrested four and a half months ago.

The Texan native asked Biden not to forget her and other detained Americans. “As I sit here in a Russian prison – alone with my thoughts and without the protection of my wife, family, friends, Olympic jersey or other accomplishments – I fear that I might be here forever,” it says the letter. The White House confirmed its receipt.

US government says it wants to help

Excerpts from the letter were distributed by Griner’s environment – parallel to Independence Day, which is celebrated on July 4th in the USA. Normally she celebrates the holiday with her family, she is quoted as saying. There those would be honored who would have fought for freedom. “It hurts to think about how I usually celebrate this day because freedom means something completely different to me this year,” the athlete wrote to Biden, for whom she said she voted in the 2020 US presidential election.

National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said the US government is doing everything it can to bring Griner home. US-Russia relations have been at rock bottom since the Russian attack on Ukraine. At the start of the trial, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had rejected allegations that the trial against Griner was politically motivated.

Arrest probably because of cannabis oil

Griner has been in Russian custody since February 17 on charges of drug possession. According to the AP news agency, it was about cannabis oil, which she is said to have had with her when she returned to a game for her Russian team. The trial against Griner began on Friday and will continue on Thursday. The pre-trial detention was last extended until December 20th. You face up to ten years in prison.

The two-time Olympic champion plays for the US basketball team Phoenix Mercury, but was also active in Russia’s league.