WNBA star Brittney Griner has vowed to fight to bring home Americans who are detained overseas, after her own experience being held in Russia for ten months.
As it was previously reported, the U.S. basketball player Brittney Griner was found guilty of drug smuggling and possession by a Russian court, nearly six months after she was arrested at a Moscow airport when authorities discovered a vape cartridge with cannabis oil in her luggage. As a result, Griner was sentenced to nine years in prison—with the possibility of being forced to a labor camp—and fined 1 million rubles, or around $16,700.
Griner, was released from Russian custody in a prisoner exchange, back in December and been vouching to bring home other American detainees since her return.
“I want to continue to fight to bring home every American detained overseas. That means everything to me,” she told the crowd on Thursday as she made a surprise appearance at Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network’s Women’s Empowerment Luncheon at the Sheraton in New York.
After her own experience being held in a Russian prison during the WNBA offseason, Griner said that she understands the pain and uncertainty that comes with being separated from loved ones in a foreign country. “You never know how alone you feel, but when you know people back at home are praying for you, rooting for you, supporting you… that’s what keeps you going,” she said.
While at the event, U.N. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield also thanked Rev. Al Sharpton for the “critical work that you and this organization did to bring Brittney home.”
“It’s especially important for us right now as we work for the safe return of Evan [Gershkovich], the Wall Street [Journal] jounalist… as well as [former Marine] Paul Whelan and every single American who’s being unjustly detained,” Thomas-Greenfield said.
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Following her wild experience, Griner is now working on her memoir which will detail exactly what she went through:
“That day (in February) was the beginning of an unfathomable period in my life which only now am I ready to share,” Griner said in a statement released Tuesday by Alfred A. Knopf.
“The primary reason I traveled back to Russia for work that day was because I wanted to make my wife, family, and teammates proud. After an incredibly challenging 10 months in detainment, I am grateful to have been rescued and to be home. Readers will hear my story and understand why I’m so thankful for the outpouring of support from people across the world.”