Brittney Griner

The two-time Olympic gold medalist was detained in Moscow in February after vape cartridges containing hash oil were allegedly found in her luggage.

We're hearing in that respect, she's okay, but we want her home." Ogwumike, 31, also revealed why she was speaking out about the arrest. The basketball champion faces five to 10 years in prison if convicted. The WNBA star's lawyer, Alexander Boykov, told AP he thinks the relatively short extension could indicate that Griner's case would go to trial soon. For Friday's brief hearing, Griner appeared at a court outside Moscow handcuffed, wearing an orange hoodie. "The Department of State has determined that the Russian Federation has wrongfully detained U.S. citizen Brittney Griner," a State Department spokesperson said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE on Tuesday.

Lawyer for the Phoenix Mercury center expects cannabis case will be tried soon as the extension is relatively short.

She had her wrists handcuffed in front of her. “I want to take a moment to reiterate the WNBA’s support for Phoenix Mercury star Brittney Griner,” the WNBA commissioner, Cathy Engelbert, said last month. Griner, one of the WNBA league’s biggest stars, has been detained in Russia since arriving at a Moscow airport in mid-February.

The lawyer for the 31-year-old athlete said Friday her pre-trial detention in Russia has been extended by one month. Griner faces a trial on drug possession ...

They support each other as they can." "She's been treated OK and has no concerns or complaints about her health. The official said U.S. diplomats attended Friday's hearing and were able to speak with Griner. "She is doing as well as can be expected in these circumstances," the official added. "It could take longer. A State Department official said the department did not have a comment on Friday's development, but said, "As we have stated repeatedly, the Russian system wrongfully detained Ms. Griner." Boikov described Griner's mood as "normal" given her circumstances in a Russian prison.

The lawyer for WNBA star Brittney Griner says her pre-trial detention in Russia is extended by one month. Griner's lawyer Alexander Boykov told The ...

It's not entirely clear why the U.S. government, which for weeks had been more circumspect in its approach, reclassified Griner as a wrongful detainee. Griner appeared for the brief hearing at a court outside Moscow handcuffed, wearing an orange hoodie and holding her face down. The 31-year-old American basketball player has been in custody for nearly three months. She faces drug smuggling charges that carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Also working on the case now is a centre led by Bill Richardson, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations who helped secure the release of multiple hostages and detainees, including Reed. The State Department last week said it now regards Griner as wrongfully detained, a change in classification that suggests the U.S. government will be more active in trying to secure her release even while the legal case plays out.

The lawyer for WNBA star Brittney Griner said Friday her pre-trial detention in Russia has been extended by one month.

It's not entirely clear why the U.S. government, which for weeks had been more circumspect in its approach, reclassified Griner as a wrongful detainee. Griner appeared for the brief hearing at a court outside Moscow handcuffed, wearing an orange hoodie and holding her face down. The 31-year-old American basketball player has been in custody for nearly three months. She faces drug smuggling charges that carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. "Today's news on Brittney Griner was not unexpected, and the WNBA continues to work with the U.S. government to get BG home safely and as soon as possible," the basketball league said in a statement. The State Department last week said it now regards Griner as wrongfully detained, a change in classification that suggests the U.S. government will be more active in trying to secure her release even while the legal case plays out.

The pretrial detention for Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner was extended for another 30 days by a Russian court.

“Today’s news on Brittney Griner was not unexpected, and the WNBA continues to work with the U.S. government to get BG home safely and as soon as possible," a WNBA spokesperson said in a statement released to USA TODAY Sports. The WNBA continues to support Griner, placing her initials and jersey number on the sideline of every WNBA court, while also paying her full salary this season. Griner was set to appear in court on May 19 and during proceedings on Friday in a Khimki court, outside of Moscow, a judge denied a request for Griner, who was in handcuffs and wearing a red hoodie, to be placed in home detention.

Brittany Griner's attorney gave an update about her pre-trial detainment in Moscow following her February arrest. Find out what's next for the WNBA star, ...

"We continue to work on bringing Brittney home and are appreciative of the support the community has shown BG and her family during this extraordinarily challenging time." The league also said Griner will be paid her full salary during her absence. The WNBA has also publicly expressed support for Griner amid her detention. "We are working very closely on her case." Her lawyer, Alexander Boykov, later told the Associated Press that he believed the relatively short extension of the detention indicated that her case would come to trial soon. Griner's wife, Cherelle Griner, has rallied behind the star.

If Griner is convicted on drug possession charges, she could be locked up at least five years with a maximum of 10 years.

"There's a delicate dance their families have to do with trying to raise attention with the State Department and Congress while not wanting to inflame Russia," Salvo said. "The State Department can't storm the Russian prison to bring her home," Salvo said. "To get to yes here, you have to convince the people who say you'll only encourage the Russians to arrest more people like Griner.” "The U.S. government has to ask itself: Do we want to trade a really bad dude like Bout for a good person like Griner who probably made a dumb mistake?" Russia would have a list of other nationals in custody in the U.S. whom they'd like to see returned. Griner's wife, fellow WNBA players and the league have shown their solidarity with Griner on social media. "They're going to try and horse trade," Salvo, a former diplomat at the State Department who had worked in Russia, said. Griner's family is getting help from former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Bill Richardson, who has also worked as an international hostage negotiator. Her attorney told the media on Friday that she has not expressed "any complaints about the detention conditions." Butler said the silence may be a legal strategy, although Russia's criminal code also limits the ways in which the accused can speak publicly about open investigations. The league said in a statement Friday that "today's news on Brittney Griner was not unexpected, and the WNBA continues to work with the U.S. government to get BG home safely and as soon as possible." "It's something you don't want to mess with.

Russia is looking to exchange the WNBA star in a prisoner swap for notorious convicted arms trafficker Viktor Bout, several state-owned Russian news outlets ...

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Ex-New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who played a major role in freeing former U.S. Marine Trevor Reed, working to bring the WNBA All-Star home.

“Regardless of Russian legal proceedings, Brittney Griner has been officially designated as Wrongfully Detained by the U.S. Government and has been held now for 85 days. If a local isn’t likely to be in nearly as much trouble, it’s typically a sign that the person currently being detained is being held specifically because they have an American passport. (Reed is recovering at a military treatment center in Texas, and is in good condition, according to his family.) “Having learned that the U.S. government has now determined that BG is being wrongfully detained, we are hopeful that their efforts will be significant, swift and successful,” Ogwumike tweeted on May 3. In July 2020, Reed had been sentenced to nine years in prison for allegedly endangering “the life and health” of Russian police officers after an altercation; Reed and his family denied the allegations his entire detainment. He worked for almost two years to secure the release of Reed, who had been detained in Russia since 2019 and was freed by Russian authorities in a prisoner swap. Reed’s mother told CNN that her son said he felt “horrible” that he was home and others were still stuck, a reference to Griner and Whelan, another former U.S. Marine who’s been detained since December 2018. No one involved in Griner’s case, including U.S. Government officials, has explicitly said that the allegations against her are false. While praising and crediting President Biden for sanctioning the prisoner swap, Richardson added, "despite this huge tension and conflict, that we’re able to negotiate this is good news for Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner and we should pursue that." The terms of Reed’s potential release were first presented to the White House last summer. It’s seriously good news,” said attorney and Russian legal expert Jamison Firestone, one of the main proponents of the Magnitsky Act, the 2012 law that allows the U.S. government to sanction human rights violators. Griner, a center for the Phoenix Mercury, appeared in a Moscow court Friday, where her pre-trial detention was extended by one month.

New York coach Sandy Brondello was on her way to her team's Friday morning shootaround when she heard the 'disappointing' news that Russia had extended ...

"Only thing I can do, I'm great friends with Brittney, is continue to pray for her and her family," Johnson said. "Sometimes a free meal can make a person's day. I saw the pictures," said Fever guard Danielle Robinson who played with Griner in Phoenix for a season. I can't imagine how her family feels right now." "You get to know her and her family, what she's all about, what she stands for. "We have to free BG. We need her back here.