{"id":1606517,"date":"2022-08-15T10:32:07","date_gmt":"2022-08-15T14:32:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1606517"},"modified":"2022-08-15T10:32:09","modified_gmt":"2022-08-15T14:32:09","slug":"talks-heat-up-over-brittney-griner-swap-for-russian-terrorist-as-griner-team-appeals-drug-conviction-in-russia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/talks-heat-up-over-brittney-griner-swap-for-russian-terrorist-as-griner-team-appeals-drug-conviction-in-russia\/","title":{"rendered":"Talks Heat Up Over Brittney Griner Swap For Russian Terrorist As Griner Team Appeals Drug Conviction In Russia"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">36<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftalks-heat-up-over-brittney-griner-swap-for-russian-terrorist-as-griner-team-appeals-drug-conviction-in-russia%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1606517&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>As WNBA star <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/wnba-star-brittney-griner-sentenced-to-9-years-in-russian-prison\">Brittney Griner<\/a>\u2018s legal team appeals a drug conviction in Russia, talks are reportedly heating up over a potential prisoner swap between Griner and another Russia-imprisoned American for a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/breaking-biden-offers-to-release-notorious-russian-terrorist-in-exchange-for-brittney-griner-report-says\">notorious Russian terrorist<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Griner this month was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/wnba-star-brittney-griner-sentenced-to-9-years-in-russian-prison\">sentenced<\/a> to nine and a half years behind bars for bringing cannabis-infused vape cartridges into Russia. She admitted to the crime but <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/brittney-griner-russia-guilty-court-marijuana-accidentally\/\">said<\/a> she did not deliberately break the law, telling the court, \u201cI was in a rush packing and the cartridges accidentally ended up in my bags.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The athlete\u2019s legal team has appealed the conviction over alleged \u201cserious procedural violations during detention, extraction of physical evidence, arrest and investigation,\u201d Griner lawyer Aleksandr Boikov <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/08\/15\/world\/europe\/brittney-griner-appeals-conviction.html\">said<\/a>, adding that the verdict did \u201cnot correspond to the current legal practice of Russian courts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The appeal could take up to three months to be adjudicated, the legal team <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/08\/15\/world\/europe\/brittney-griner-appeals-conviction.html\">told<\/a> The New York Times. However, earlier this month, lawyers for Griner said they would withdraw the appeal if it interferes with a potential prisoner exchange process.<\/p>\n<p>According to the Times, talks about exchanging Griner for the Russian terrorist are becoming more open.<\/p>\n<p>High-ranking Russian diplomat\u00a0Aleksandr Darchiev over the weekend said political negotiations with the U.S. are already underway, the report said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe discussion of the quite sensitive topic of prisoner exchange of Russian and American citizens has been ongoing along the channels set out by the two presidents,\u201d Darchiev <a href=\"https:\/\/tass.ru\/politika\/15463527\">told<\/a> Russian state media.<\/p>\n<p>The diplomat confirmed that Russian Viktor Bout, described by the U.S. as \u201cone of the world\u2019s most prolific arms dealers,\u201d is a candidate for the prisoner-swap with Griner and Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine convicted in Moscow of espionage charges, which Whelan denies.<\/p>\n<p>Notably, then-Attorney General Eric Holder in November 2011 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/opa\/pr\/international-arms-dealer-viktor-bout-convicted-new-york-terrorism-crimes\">described<\/a> Bout as \u201cone of the world\u2019s most prolific arms dealers\u201d who allegedly tried to \u201csell\u00a0millions of dollars worth of weapons to terrorists for use in killing Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cToday, one of the world\u2019s most prolific arms dealers is being held accountable for his sordid past,\u201d\u00a0Holder said after Bout was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/opa\/pr\/international-arms-dealer-viktor-bout-convicted-new-york-terrorism-crimes\">convicted<\/a> on terrorism charges in New York. \u201cViktor Bout\u2019s arms trafficking activity and support of armed conflicts have been a source of concern around the globe for decades. Today, he faces the prospect of life in prison for his efforts to sell millions of dollars worth of weapons to terrorists for use in killing Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs the evidence at trial showed, Viktor Bout was ready to sell a weapons arsenal that would be the envy of some small countries,\u201d said then-U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara, according to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/breaking-biden-offers-to-release-notorious-russian-terrorist-in-exchange-for-brittney-griner-report-says\">The Daily Wire<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe aimed to sell those weapons to terrorists for the purpose of killing Americans,\u201d Bharara continued. \u201cWith today\u2019s swift verdict, justice has been done and a very dangerous man will be behind bars. I would like to acknowledge the extraordinary efforts of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents who investigated this case on three different continents and helped to bring Viktor Bout to justice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Related:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/the-merchant-of-death-for-griner-and-whelan-why-the-russian-prisoner-swap-is-a-risky-deal\">The Merchant Of Death\u2019 For Griner And Whelan: Why The Russian Prisoner Swap Is A Risky\u00a0Deal<\/p>\n<p><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As WNBA star Brittney Griner\u2018s legal team appeals a drug conviction in Russia, talks are reportedly heating up over a potential prisoner swap between Griner and another Russia-imprisoned American for a notorious Russian terrorist. Griner this month was sentenced to nine and a half years behind bars for bringing cannabis-infused vape cartridges into Russia. She &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1546981,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1606517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1606517","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1606517"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1606517\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1546981"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1606517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1606517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1606517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}