WNBA star Brittney Griner's detention extended a month after appearance in court, U.S. officials skeptical of negotiations claim & More News Here

MOSCOW — The lawyer for Brittney Griner stated Friday that the WNBA star’s pretrial detention in Russia has been extended by one month.

Alexander Boykov informed The Associated Press he believed the comparatively brief extension of the detention indicated the case would come to trial quickly. Griner has been in detention for almost three months.

At the identical time, the Russian state information company TASS revealed a story saying there have been negotiations between the U.S. and Russia to change Griner for a Russian man being held in the United States for financing terrorism. American authorities officials, talking to ESPN on background, expressed skepticism in regards to the reporting, saying it was doubtless a tactic to strain the U.S. authorities.

A U.S. official informed ESPN, on background, that the report is additional validation of why Griner was just lately reclassified as being wrongfully detained and proof that Russia’s judicial system is transactional.

“Timing is one of the most important factors I look for; it’s one of the clearest ways we can glean intentions in a negotiation,” says Dani Gilbert, an assistant professor of army and strategic research on the U.S. Air Force Academy and an knowledgeable in state-sponsored hostage taking. “The fact that they would make that statement at the same time doesn’t seem like coincidence. It’s consistent with how these negotiations have typically gone.

“Today’s information is a sobering reminder that worldwide detention instances are lengthy, winding, irritating ordeals — hardly ever simple. We actually do not know if that is good or dangerous information. It may imply shopping for time to work out a swift deal for her launch, or it may imply extra issues placed on the desk.”

In Moscow on Friday, Griner appeared for the brief hearing handcuffed, her dreadlocks covered in a red hoodie and her face held low.

Boykov said, “We didn’t obtain any complaints in regards to the detention situations from our consumer.”

Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, was detained at a Moscow airport after vape cartridges containing oil derived from hashish have been allegedly discovered in her baggage, which may carry a most penalty of 10 years in jail.

The Biden administration says Griner, 31, is being wrongfully detained. The WNBA and U.S. officials have labored towards her launch, with out seen progress.

The Russians have described Griner’s case as a prison offense with out making any political associations.

But it comes amid Moscow’s struggle in Ukraine that has introduced U.S.-Russian relations to the bottom stage for the reason that Cold War.

Despite the pressure, Russia and the United States carried out an sudden prisoner change final month — buying and selling former Marine Trevor Reed for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot serving a 20-year federal sentence for conspiring to smuggle cocaine into the U.S. While the U.S. doesn’t usually embrace such exchanges, it made the deal in half as a result of Yaroshenko had already served a lengthy portion of his jail sentence.

The Russians would possibly contemplate Griner a potential half of one other such change.

The U.S. State Department stated final week that it now regards Griner as wrongfully detained, a change in classification that means the U.S. authorities might be extra energetic in attempting to safe her launch even whereas the authorized case performs out. The standing change locations her case below the purview of the division’s particular presidential envoy for hostage affairs, who’s chargeable for negotiating for the discharge of hostages and Americans thought of wrongfully detained.

Also engaged on the case now could be a heart led by Bill Richardson, the previous U.S. ambassador to the United Nations who helped safe the discharge of a number of hostages and detainees, together with Reed.

It’s not solely clear why the U.S. authorities, which for weeks had been extra circumspect in its strategy, reclassified Griner as a wrongful detainee. But below federal legislation, there are a quantity of components that go into such a characterization, together with whether or not the detention is predicated on being an American and whether or not the detainee has been denied due course of

U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price has confirmed that U.S. Ambassador John Sullivan had a assembly with Russian counterparts however wouldn’t say whether or not Griner was mentioned or speak any additional about her case.

Information from ESPN’s T.J. Quinn and The Associated Press was used in this report.

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