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sports Diabierna 5 augustus 2022

Russian judge sentences WNBA's Griner to 9 years in prison

(AP) — A judge in Russia has con- of the Ural Mountains, had become
victed and sentenced American her "second home."
basketball star Brittney Griner to
nine years in prison for drug pos- Prosecutor Nikolai Vlasenko insisted
session and smuggling. that Griner packed the cannabis oil
deliberately, and he asked the court to
Judge Anna Sotnikova said the time hand Briner a fine of 1 million rubles
Griner has served in custody since (about $16,700) in addition to the
her arrest in February would count prison sentence.
toward the sentence.
Lawyers for the Phoenix Mercury
Griner reacted to the sentence with center and two-time Olympic gold
little emotion. She listened to the medalist have sought to bolster Gri-
verdict with a blank stare on her face. ner's contention that she had no
While recapping the evidence and criminal intent and that the canisters
giving her findings Thursday, the ended up in her luggage by mistake.
judge said the 31-year-old Griner il- They presented character witnesses
legally brought drugs into Russia. from the Yekaterinburg team that
she plays for in the WNBA offseason
Before the unusually quick verdict and written testimony from a doctor
was announced, Griner made a fi- who said he prescribed her cannabis
nal appeal to the court . She said she for pain treatment from injuries sus- sia's efforts to develop national sports sia sent troops into Ukraine more
had no intention to break the law by tained in her basketball career. and make Moscow's call to depoliti- than five months ago. The direct out-
bringing vape cartridges with canna- cize sports sound shallow. reach over Griner is at odds with U.S.
bis oil into the country when she flew Her lawyer, Maria Blagovolina, ar- efforts to isolate the Kremlin.
to Moscow in February to play bas- gued that Griner used the cannabis Boykov added that even after her ar-
ketball in the city of Yekaterinburg. only in Arizona, where medical mari- rest, Griner won the sympathy of People familiar with the proposal
juana is legal. both her guards and prison inmates, say it envisions trading Griner and
Earlier in the session, with a convic- She emphasized that Griner was who supported her by shouting, Whelan for the notorious arms trader
tion all but certain, an emotional Gri- packing in haste after a grueling flight "Brittney, everything will be OK!" Viktor Bout, who is serving a prison
ner made a final appeal to the court and suffering from the consequenc- when she went on walks at the jail. sentence in the United States. It un-
for leniency. She said she had no es of COVID-19. Blagovolina also Before her trial began in July, the derlines the public pressure that the
intention to break the law by bring- pointed out that the analysis of can- State Department designated her as White House has faced to get Griner
ing vape cartridges with cannabis oil nabis found in Griner's possession "wrongfully detained," moving her released.
when she flew to Moscow in Febru- was flawed and violated legal proce- case under the supervision of its spe-
ary to play basketball in the city of dures. cial presidential envoy for hostage White House Press Secretary Karine
Yekaterinburg. affairs, effectively the government's Jean-Pierre said Monday that Rus-
Blagovolina asked the court to acquit chief hostage negotiator. sia has made a "bad faith" response to
"I want to apologize to my team- Griner, noting that she had no past the U.S. government's offer, a coun-
mates, my club, my fans and the city criminal record and hailing her role Then last week, in an extraordinary teroffer that American officials don't
of (Yekaterinburg) for my mistake in "the development of Russian bas- move, Blinken spoke to Russian For- regard as serious. She declined to
that I made and the embarrassment ketball." eign Minister Sergey Lavrov, urging elaborate.
that I brought on them," Griner said, him to accept a deal under which
her voice cracking. "I want to also Another defense attorney, Alexander Griner and Paul Whelan, an Ameri- Russian officials have scoffed at U.S.
apologize to my parents, my siblings, Boykov, emphasized Griner's role in can imprisoned in Russia on an es- statements about the case, saying they
the Phoenix Mercury organization taking her Yekaterinburg team to win pionage conviction, would go free. show a disrespect for Russian law.
back at home, the amazing women of multiple championships, noting that They remained poker-faced, urg-
the WNBA, and my amazing spouse she was loved and admired by her The Lavrov-Blinken call marked the ing Washington to discuss the issue
back at home." teammates. He told the judge that a highest-level known contact between through "quiet diplomacy without
Griner said Yekaterinburg, a city east conviction would undermine Rus- Washington and Moscow since Rus- releases of speculative information."

Jamaica upsets Australia in Commonwealth Games netball

(AP) — Jamaica caused for the medal rounds with deficit at the start of the last them, if not better. We have ed the quickest heat time of
a major upset in Com- their 57-55 triumph over the quarter to clinch their first so much discipline and focus 22.71.
monwealth Games netball Australia Diamonds, who triumph over Australia in the in our squad."
when it topped gold med- were also through. They will Games, with captain Jhaniele Four years after being dis-
al favorite Australia after play England or defending Fowler starring in attack. Who Jamaica or top-ranked qualified on the Gold Coast
a stunning comeback on champion New Zealand in Fowler, who plays in Austra- Australia face in the semi- for impeding a rival before
Thursday. the semifinals on Saturday. lia's domestic competition for finals will be decided after crossing first in the 200, Eng-
the Perth-based West Coast England and New Zealand land's Zharnel Hughes post-
The Sunshine Girls qualified Jamaica overcame a six-goal Fever, scored 47 goals from meet late Thursday. ed the fastest men's heat time
50 attempts and said the win of 20.30.
boosted her confidence in Ja- In athletics, champion Jamai- Trinidad and Tabago's Jareem
maica's hopes of winning the can sprinter Elaine Thomp- Richards, who was promoted
gold medal. son-Herah returned to Alex- to the gold medal on the Gold
ander Stadium just over 12 Coast after being impeded by
"It's a bit surreal to beat Aus- hours after her triumph in Hughes, qualified third fast-
tralia in a Commonwealth the 100 meters on Wednes- est in 20.68.
Games," she said. day night.
"We've not done that before, A double Olympic champion Pre-race favorite Grace
but this team of ours is in- in the 200, she qualified sec- Brown from Australia won
credible and we went out ond fastest for Friday's semi- the women's road cycling
there and proved everyone finals in an easy heat win in time trial in the Black Coun-
wrong and it feels so good. 22.80 seconds. try around Wolverhampton
"Our mindset from the start with an outstanding perfor-
was that we are as good as Nigeria's Favour Ofili post- mance.