Brittney Griner’s appeal hearing will take place in a Russian court on October 25, according to reports, two months after her legal team first filed to appeal her nine-year prison sentence. As fans will recall, the basketball star was arrested in February after Russian authorities discovered vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage upon her arrival at the Moscow airport.
She was detained under drug charges and pleaded guilty to the offense as she spent five months in custody before a judge convicted her with the lengthy punishment on August 4. The following week, her attorneys sent out an appeal, with her lawyer, Maria Blagovolina, telling PEOPLE in September how her client had felt “stressed” by the entire ordeal — particularly because it was taking a considerable time to hear back for the request to appeal.
Brittney Griner will have the chance to appeal her nine-year prison sentence on October 25
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: BRING BRITTNEY GRINER HOME
— The GIST USA (@thegistusa) October 4, 2022
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While October 25 will undoubtedly be a day Griner will be looking forward to, her other attorney, Alexander Boykov, had previously explained that the legal process isn’t as quick as people may assume. Once the appeal commences later this month, it can take several months before Griner actually finds out about her status in Russia and whether she’ll be made to serve her entire nine-year sentence or whether she’ll be sent back to the U.S.
Blagovolina called the nine-year prison sentence “absolutely unreasonable” as her legal representatives continue to fight for her freedom, hoping that Russian officials will reason with their appeal and agree to send her back to America. Over the summer, the Biden administration said they were in active talks with Russia to hopefully come to an agreement that would grant Griner her release in exchange for a Russian prisoner facing time behind bars in the U.S.
A Moscow regional court has set October 25 as an appeal date for WNBA star Brittney Griner, court records show. An appeal hearing will be heard at the Khimki city court in Moscow region.
— Kylie Atwood (@kylieatwood) October 3, 2022
Throughout this entire ordeal, while Griner pleaded guilty, she had vehemently denied bringing less than 1 gram of cannabis oil to Russia with intentional purposes. “That’s why I pled guilty to my charges. I understand everything that’s been said against me, the charges that are against me and that is why I pled guilty but I had no intent to break any Russian laws,” she told the court.
Her family back in the U.S. are hopeful that there’ll be some further development coming when the appeal hearing takes place, but even if the process does go in her favor, it’s unlikely Griner would be released until sometime in 2023.