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The prosecutor in Russian court requested a 9.5-year prison term for Olympic champion and U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner, who is accused of drug smuggling, Mediazona reports.
Earlier, American women's basketball team head coach Becky Hammon, who used to play for the Russian national team, asked Vladimir Putin to «do the right thing» and release Brittney Griner.
On August 2, the final hearing in Griner's case took place at the Khimki City Court, where she pleaded guilty. It was reported that the basketball player faced five to ten years in prison, but she could be exchanged for the Russian businessman Viktor Bout, who is serving a 25-year sentence in America on arms trafficking charges. U.S. President Joe Biden proposed the exchange to the Russian authorities.
Griner is one of the most decorated female basketball players in the world. She was a two-time Olympic and two-time world champion on the U.S. national team, and a 2014 WNBA champion with Phoenix Mercury. The WNBA center is on the official list of the WNBA’s top 25 players. She has been playing for Yekaterinburg UMMC since 2015.