RUSSIA FREES WNBA STAR BRITTANY GRINER IN SWAP FOR “MERCHANT OF DEATH” ARMS DEALER
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US basketball star Brittney Griner, who was held for months in Russian prisons on drug-related charges, has been released on Thursday in a one-for-one prisoner swap for international arms dealer Viktor Bout.
“She is safe. She is on a plane. She is on her way home,” Biden said in a tweet.
Griner was detained in Russia in February after customs agents discovered vape canisters consisting of cannabis oil in her luggage at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport.
The 32-year-old, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, was later sentenced to nine years in prison on charges of possessing and smuggling drugs after pleading guilty but insisting she had made an “honest mistake” and not intended to break the law.
Bout, nicknamed “the merchant of death”, was one of the world’s most wanted men before his capture as a notorious arms dealer who supplied weapons to murderous warlords and rebel groups in South America, Africa, and Asia.
“On December 8, 2022, the procedure for the exchange of Russian citizen Viktor Bout for U.S. citizen Brittney Griner, who were serving their sentences in correctional institutions of the United States of America and the Russian Federation, respectively, was successfully completed at Abu Dhabi Airport,” Russia’s foreign ministry said.
“Washington categorically refused to engage in dialogue on the inclusion of the Russian in the exchange scheme,” the foreign ministry added. “Nevertheless, the Russian Federation continued to actively work to rescue our compatriot.
“The Russian citizen has been returned to his homeland.”
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