Cherelle Griner, the wife of Brittney Griner, appeared on “The View” on Tuesday as she spoke against Russia’s decision in denying the basketball star’s appeal on drug charges. This subsequently meant that Brittney either tries to appeal again or she’ll have to serve her nine-year prison sentence behind bars.
And while the Biden administration is still hopeful of potentially coming to an agreement with Russia for a prisoner swap deal, Cherelle says that the motion of denying her wife’s appeal left her in complete disbelief, saying there are people in Russia who’ve been convicted of murder whose “sentence was way less than B.G.”
EXCLUSIVE: Cherelle Griner speaks out on a Russian court denying her wife Brittney Griner’s appeal to her 9-year prison sentence, calling the decision “absurd.”
“The crime and the punishment is disproportionate at its finest,” she tells @TheView. https://t.co/aQqaHUEJbV pic.twitter.com/R5coXmWiDu
— The View (@TheView) November 1, 2022
“I understand being in the field of law that every state, every country has their own rules, but this is just absurd,” she explained. “This could happen to anybody and we should be praying that we have a country that recognizes the importance of that and are willing to actually go get our Americans and bring them back home.”
As previously reported, Brittney found out in a Moscow appeals court last week that her appeal had not been successful, though her attorneys had already said weeks prior that the chances of having a verdict overturned in Russia is very unlikely.
The judges in Krasnogorsk gave the ruling to Brittney, who appeared via a video link from the penal colony in Novoye Grishino, which understandably devastated the basketball star as she held her head in her hands in sorrow.
Her attorney Alexander Boykov put up a vigorous fight to bring across a strong argument in the case, saying, “No judge, hand on heart, will honestly say that Griner’s nine-year sentence is in line with Russian criminal law. “The severity and cruelty of the sentence applied to Griner shocks people around the world.”
It has been 257 days since our friend, Brittney Griner, has been wrongfully detained in Russia. It is time for her to come home. @WhiteHouse @potus @vp , we are paying attention and we are counting on you. #WeAreBG
— Breanna Stewart (@breannastewart) November 1, 2022
RELATED: President Biden Gives An Update On His Efforts To Get Brittney Griner Out Of Russian Prison
But after just 30 minutes, it was ultimately ruled that the verdict would be upheld without any changes made to her sentence, including a reduction in the nine years she’s said to spend behind bars.
The upsetting news saw National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan explain in a statement that there are still ongoing efforts behind the scenes that will hopefully bring Brittney back to the U.S. “In recent weeks, the Biden-Harris Administration has continued to engage with Russia through every available channel and make every effort to bring home Brittney as well as to support and advocate for other Americans detained in Russia,” he shared.