“I have a feeling that my wife is a hostage. “
While Brittney Griner is still in custody in Russia, her partner Cherelle Griner gave an interview to journalist Gayle King on CBS. A way to continue mobilizing on the Brittney Griner case e to continue the struggle to bring her back to the United States.
Arrested at Moscow airport in February 2022 for possession of cannabis oil used for medical purposes to relieve chronic pain, she was imprisoned and brought to justice for drug possession and trafficking.
Just last August she was finally sentenced by Russian justice to nine and a half years in prison, a terribly heavy sentence for this black and openly lesbian basketball player recognized worldwide as one of the best of her generation. .
A political condemnation? Everything suggests so given the timing of the arrest, a few weeks after the Russian army began the invasion of Ukraine, and the gravity of the sentence. Since then, Cherelle Griner and her relatives have tried to get her out of Russia through diplomatic channels.
“I want people to see that they have suffered enough”
Although Cherelle Griner does not question the fact that the consumption and possession of drugs are actually illegal in Russia, she believes that the offense should be subject to an appropriate and just sanction: “It tears me apart that my wife is not entitled to this balance and I want people to see it and that she has suffered enough, has already paid for her crime. “
After incarceration, the couple only managed to talk to each other twice. The second was particularly challenging: “It was the most disturbing phone call I have experienced and I have known BG for 11 years. I felt he was not well. Do you know when a person is in pain and at the most he can handle? There I could feel it. And I couldn’t do anything. “
Cherelle Griner worries further see Brittney Griner being sent to a labor camp, where his conditions of detention could eventually deteriorate. The basketball player has appealed against her conviction and she will have to show up again on 25 October.
Photo credit: Lorie Shoull, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Source: Madmoizelle
Ashley Root is an author and celebrity journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a keen eye for all things celebrity, Ashley is always up-to-date on the latest gossip and trends in the world of entertainment.
