Brittney Griner, an American basketball player, has had her pre-trial detention in Russia extended for another month.
Since February, Ms Griner, 31, has been detained when Moscow airport officials allegedly discovered cannabis oil in her suitcase while returning to the United States after performing in Russia.
Officials in the United States believe she was unfairly imprisoned and should be released.
If convicted, Ms. Griner, one of the top female players in the world, risks up to ten years in prison.
Ms. Griner is shown in a photo wearing an orange sweatshirt and gazing down at the court hearing in Khimki, Russia, just outside of Moscow.
A consular employee from the US State Department attended the hearing and chatted with Ms. Griner on the sidelines, according to the US State Department.
Ms. Griner was doing “as well as can be expected in extremely challenging circumstances,” according to a spokeswoman.
Her lawyer after the court that Ms. Griner had not expressed “any objections about the prison conditions.”
According to state-owned Russian news agency TASS, Russia is hoping to trade Ms. Griner for Viktor Bout, an arms trafficker convicted in the United States.
Bout, dubbed “the Merchant of Death,” was caught in Thailand in 2008 and extradited to thE United States, where he was found guilty of attempting to transport weapons to Colombian guerrillas for use against US citizens.
.In April 2012, he was sentenced to 25 years in jail in New York.
Authorities in Russia claim that a sniffer dog led them to Ms. Griner’s carry-on luggage, where they discovered vape cartridges carrying hashish oil.
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Despite the fact that the event occurred on February 17, Russian officials did not announce her incarceration until the second week of March.
Her imprisonment came as authorities from the United States and the Women’s National Basketball Association urged Americans to leave Russia amid escalating tensions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
Since then, US and WNBA officials have made little progress in securing her release.
The WNBA stated in a statement following Friday’s court that the prolongation of her imprisonment “was not anticipated” and that it was continuing to work with the US authorities to get her released.
Despite deteriorating US-Russia relations, officials have maintained diplomatic channels for dialogue.
Trevor Reed, a US citizen, and former Marine were released from a Russian prison last month after serving a nine-year sentence for assault.
.In exchange, the United States released Konstantin Yorashenko, a Russian pilot serving a 20-year term for cocaine trafficking.
According to reports, Ms. Griner’s case is now being handled by a special State Department unit called the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, which specializes in securing the release of Americans held hostage or illegally incarcerated abroad.
