INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
A Russian court sentenced U.S
basketball star Brittney Griner to nine years in prison and fined her 1 million rubles ($16,590) on drug charges on Thursday.Griner, 31, was
has said Griner was wrongfully detained and has vowed to secure her release
Washington revealed last month it had proposed a prisoner swap to Russia in which the basketball player and imprisoned former U.S
Marine Paul Whelan would be exchanged for convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout, who is currently in a U.S
opportunity that we have, and appeal is one of these opportunities," People magazine quoted Griner's lawyer Maria Blagovolina as saying
Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced last week that the U.S
ready to discuss this subject, but only within the framework of the [communication] channel established by presidents Putin and Biden,"
is currently serving a 25-year sentence in a prison in Illinois
and internationally recognized governments in an array of conflict zones, including in Afghanistan, Yemen and the Democratic Republic of the
He was extradited to the U.S
could be executed within weeks, Jeff Hawn, a non-resident fellow at the New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy in Washington, said it
might see the willingness of the other to exchange as the opportunity to increase their demands and that would set the negotiations back to
