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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| Brittney Griner: Russian court rejects appeal over jail term | Brittney Griner: Russian court rejects appeal over jail term |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| The US basketball star is considered one of the world's top players | The US basketball star is considered one of the world's top players |
| A Russian court has rejected an appeal by US basketball star Brittney Griner against her nine-year jail term for drugs charges. | |
| The court near Moscow upheld the sentence, with the state prosecutor calling it "fair". | The court near Moscow upheld the sentence, with the state prosecutor calling it "fair". |
| The double Olympic winner apologised for her "honest mistake" in her appeal hearing via video link, saying it had been "very, very stressful". | The double Olympic winner apologised for her "honest mistake" in her appeal hearing via video link, saying it had been "very, very stressful". |
| Griner, 32, was convicted in August of smuggling and possessing cannabis oil. | Griner, 32, was convicted in August of smuggling and possessing cannabis oil. |
| The sportswoman's lawyer, Alexander Boykov, told the court, "No judge, hand on heart, will honestly say that Griner's nine-year sentence is in line with Russian criminal law." | The sportswoman's lawyer, Alexander Boykov, told the court, "No judge, hand on heart, will honestly say that Griner's nine-year sentence is in line with Russian criminal law." |
| The White House called the legal proceedings a "sham". | |
| In a statement, a US national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, said Griner was being "wrongfully detained under intolerable circumstances" and affirmed that President Joe Biden had called for her release immediately. | |
| A top US diplomat, who attended the hearing, called the sentence "excessive and disproportionate". | A top US diplomat, who attended the hearing, called the sentence "excessive and disproportionate". |
| The sports star spoke to the appeals court of three judges remotely from her detention centre in a town near Moscow. | |
| "I really hope that the court will adjust this sentence because it has been very very stressful and very traumatic," she had told the court. | |
| "People with more severe crimes have gotten less than what I was given," she added. | |
| Griner will serve the jail term in a penal colony. | Griner will serve the jail term in a penal colony. |
| Considered one of the world's top players, she was detained on 17 February at an airport near Moscow when vape cartridges containing cannabis oil were found in her luggage. | Considered one of the world's top players, she was detained on 17 February at an airport near Moscow when vape cartridges containing cannabis oil were found in her luggage. |
| She had come to Russia to play club basketball during the US off-season. | She had come to Russia to play club basketball during the US off-season. |
| Her case has become subject to high-profile diplomacy between the US and Russia, whose relations plummeted after Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February. | Her case has become subject to high-profile diplomacy between the US and Russia, whose relations plummeted after Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February. |
| In August, the Kremlin posed the possibility of a prisoner swap between the US and Russia involving the basketball player. | |
| Reports in US media suggest imprisoned Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout - known as the Merchant of Death - could be transferred by Washington to the Russian authorities as part of the deal. |