According to a senior State Department official, the top US diplomat told Cherelle Griner that her wife’s release was a top priority for the Department and had its full attention. Blinken said the State Department was working on the case day and night and that Cherelle Griner shouldn’t hesitate to come forward if she didn’t get something.
On Friday, a Russian court extended Brittney Griner’s detention until at least June.
The two-time Olympic champion, who played for a Russian basketball team in the WNBA off-season for years, was arrested in February. Russian authorities said they had cannabis oil in their luggage and accused them of smuggling significant quantities of a narcotic – a crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
A US State Department consular official was able to speak with Brittney Griner on Friday on the sidelines of her hearing, and a State Department official said the State Department is “closely involved in this case and is in frequent contact with Ms. Griner’s legal team.”
On Monday, however, US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan said Russia had denied the embassy permission to visit them for the third time in a month.
“This is unacceptable. We call on @mfa_russia to provide consular access in a timely manner, consistent with Russia’s international and bilateral obligations,” Sullivan said in a tweet published by the embassy. In a briefing last week, spokesman Ned Price said the State Department was working “very closely” on Griner’s case, as well as that of wrongfully imprisoned American Paul Whelan. Another American unjustly imprisoned in Russia, Trevor Reed, was released in a prisoner exchange in late April.
“Our overall message to Americans detained in Russia is that, consistent with the Vienna Convention, we expect that we have regular and consistent access to detained Americans, including Americans on remand,” Price said, adding “The is certainly a message we regularly “press on” the Russian government “that we expect and insist on this regular access.”