US reps working toward Brittney Griner’s release from Russia

Two U.S. representatives said they are working toward the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner after she was detained last week in Russia for alleged possession of vape cartridges containing hashish oil.

“My office has been in touch with the State Department, and we’re working with them to see what is the best way forward,” Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas) said on Wednesday, according to ESPN. 

“I know the administration is working hard to try and get access to her and try to be helpful here. But obviously, it’s also happening in the context of really strained relations,” he added. “I do think that it’s really unusual that we’ve not been granted access to her from our embassy and our consular services.”

Allred, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, also said that the lack of communication and length of time Griner has been held is concerning, ESPN reported.

“The Russian criminal justice system is very different than ours, very opaque,” he said. “We don’t have a lot of insight into where she is in that process right now. But she’s been held for three weeks now, and that’s extremely concerning.”

“This would normally be run through our embassy or consular services in the country,” he added. “It’s also true that we’re drawing down some of our embassy personnel in Moscow and the State Department has asked all Americans in Russian to leave. But I don’t think that’s going to impact the ability for them to advocate on her behalf.”

Texas Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D) is also calling for Griner’s release and described Russian President Vladimir Putin as a “harasser, a terrorist, [and] a killer.”

“Let me be very clear, Brittney Griner is a United States citizen. She was a guest in Russia,” she said Saturday at a press conference, according to The Grio. “I will be demanding her release.” 

Lee said she contacted the U.S. State Department “to try and get them to focus on her circumstances,” adding that a Russian prison “is no place for her.”

“The one thing about Russian prisoners, when they are foreign [or] from foreign countries, the treatment is horrific,” she said. “Their lives are in jeopardy. Their health is in jeopardy. We don’t know whether they’ll make it. Their healthcare is not provided. They’re not eating right.”

She said she hopes that the U.S. “can demand the release of their citizens now and at least demand that they are protected, their health is protected, and that they are not having these enormous sentences.”

Griner, who played for Baylor’s women’s basketball team from 2009 to 2013, has since been with the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury. Griner and other NBA players compete in Russia during the off-season, where they can often obtain more lucrative contracts.