U.S. Government Changes Brittney Griner’s Status To ‘Wrongfully Detained’ By Russia, Reportedly Set To Negotiate Her Return

Amiliano FragosoMay 3rd, 2022, 11:09 am
 
Brittney Griner #15 of Team United States poses for photographs with her gold medal during the Women's Basketball medal ceremony on day sixteen of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic games

Kevin C. Cox, Getty

WNBA star Brittney Griner has been reclassified by the U.S. government as “wrongfully detained” by Russia, looking now to avoid the legal process and negotiate a reals from Russian authorities, according to ESPN.

“Brittney has been detained for 75 days and our expectation is that the White House do whatever is necessary to bring her home,” Griner’s agent, Lindsay Kagawa Colas, told the sports media giant Tuesday.

The official change in designation means that the U.S. government will no longer wait for the Russian legal system to play out, instead seeking a negotiation for Griner’s return stateside.

The Phoenix Mercury center’s legal team had remained relatively quiet until now, taking the advice of the state deportment to not make Griner a more valuable asset to Vladimir Putin. A source close to Griner also confirmed that former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Bill Richardson, an international hostage negotiator, agreed to work on Griner’s case this past week.

The Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, Roger Carstens, will also lead the charge on Griner’s release.

“The Department of State has determined that the Russian Federation has wrongfully detained U.S. citizen Brittney Griner. With this determination, the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens will lead the interagency team for securing Brittney Griner’s release,” a State Department official sent to ESPN.

The WNBA star and her legal team became more optimistic last week when former U.S. Marine Trevor Reed was released after being detained since 2019.

“We feel really good about it,” a source close to Griner told ESPN. “But we also know it can drag out, so we don’t want to get our hopes too high.”

The reclassification comes less than 24 hours after NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum appeared on New York radio station Hot 97 Monday and discussed the situation involving the WNBA star.

“We’ve been obviously in the middle of that and following that situation very, very closely. Our thoughts and prayers are with Brittney, we’ve been in close contact with her representatives and the State Department administration. I will tell you that we are doing everything and people are doing everything they can to bring her home safely,” Tatum stated. “We’ve had, through the State Department, contact with her and she’s being treated fairly and she’s healthy. And again, we’re just praying for her safe return and doing everything we can to get home.”

The WNBA also announced Tuesday that they would be putting Griner’s initials and number on every court across the league this season.

Griner was arrested in February at a Moscow-area airport while entering the country for allegedly bringing in vape cartridges containing hashish oil, according to Russian prosecutors.

While Griner has not been formally charged, she is scheduled to have a hearing on May 19.

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