Brittney Griner has been released from the Russian prison where she’s been held for months on drug charges. According to CBS News, President Biden agreed to a one-for-one prisoner swap for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, and while the deal was already said to have been set in place earlier this week, it wasn’t until Thursday when Brittney was released following a trade in the United Arab Emirates.
A White House official confirmed that President Biden spoke to Brittney from the Oval Office on Thursday morning, with Vice President Kamala Harris also present in the room. The basketball star is now said to be undergoing a medical evaluation following her release from prison before she flies back to the United States. As for Viktor, Biden granted his release from prison and have him returned to Russia, subsequently cutting his 25-year federal prison sentence shorter than expected.
The White House says President Biden spoke to Brittney Griner moments ago.
“She is safe. She is on a plane. She is on her way home.” He is making remarks at 8:30 am EST pic.twitter.com/P1CWTEnpG5
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) December 8, 2022
As previously reported, Brittney was sentenced to 9 1/2 years in prison after being found guilty of drug possession and smuggling by a Russian court back in August. When her legal team filed to appeal the verdict back in October, their motion was rejected, which meant the only way Brittney was going to get her freedom was through a potential prisoner swap deal between the U.S. and Russia. Congrats again to Brittney!
Less than an hour after the news broke of Brittney’s release, during a press conference held in the early hours on Thursday, Biden expressed, “She’s safe, she’s on a plane, she’s on her way home after months of being unjustly detained in Russia, held under intolerable circumstances. Brittney will soon be back in the arms of her loved ones and she should’ve been there all along.”
He added, “These past few months have been Hell for Brittney and Cherelle, her entire family, and all her teammates back home.” The President said that Brittney was in good spirits when he spoke to her and that she was relieved to be heading back home to finally be reunited with her family after almost a year apart.
“And the fact remains she’s lost months of her life, experienced needless trauma and deserves space, privacy and time with her loved ones to recover and heal from her time being wrongfully detained.”