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Credit, Reuters
Brittney Griner was sentenced to nine years in a penal colony by a court in Russia in August
An exchange that ended months of anguish and protests.
The United States and Russia traded American basketball star Brittney Griner for notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who was held in an American prison for 12 years.
US President Joe Biden said Griner was safe and on a plane from the United Arab Emirates on her way home.
“I’m happy to say Brittney is in good spirits. She needs time and space to recover,” he said at the White House.
Griner was arrested at a Moscow airport in February this year for possessing cannabis oil and last month sent to a penal colony.
The Biden administration proposed a prisoner swap last July, aware that Moscow had long sought Bout’s release.
The Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed the exchange and said it took place at Abu Dhabi airport. “The Russian citizen has been returned to his homeland,” the agency said in a statement.
Speaking in the Oval Office, Griner’s wife, Cherelle, praised the Biden administration’s efforts to secure his release. “I’m standing here, overcome with emotions.”
As part of the prisoner exchange, Biden signed the release order for Bout, who had been sentenced to 25 years in prison.
The ‘merchant of death’
Viktor Bout sold weapons to “warlords” and corrupt governments, becoming one of the most wanted men in the world.
Dubbed the “merchant of death” for arms trafficking in the years after the fall of the Soviet Union (USSR), the Russian’s exploits inspired the film The Lord of the gunsfrom 2005, which was loosely inspired by his life.
His undercover career was ended by an elaborate US trap in 2008, when he was arrested in a hotel in Thailand’s capital Bangkok, drawing the ire of the Russian government.
Bout was extradited two years later and spent the last 12 years in a US prison after being convicted of conspiring to support terrorists and kill Americans.
On Twitter, Biden posted a photo of the Oval Office with Griner’s wife, Cherelle.
“Moments ago I spoke to Brittney Griner. She is safe. She is on a plane. She is on her way home,” he wrote.
Credit, @Potus/Twitter
Biden pictured with Griner’s wife Cherelle and Secretary of State Antony Blinken looking on
When negotiations to secure Griner’s release began, the US also made it clear that it wanted former Marine Paul Whelan released as well. However, Whelan, accused by Russia of spying, was not part of the prisoner exchange.
“While we have not yet been able to secure Paul’s release, we have not given up; we will not give up,” Biden declared.
But he also warned Americans to take precautions before traveling abroad because of the risk of being wrongfully detained by a foreign government.
Whelan’s brother David praised Griner’s release and said US officials had given the family advance notice that Paul would not be part of the exchange.
“It is clear that the US government needs to be more assertive,” he said in a statement. “If countries like Russia are going to capture innocent Americans, the US needs a quicker, more direct response.”
