American Basketball Star Brittney Griner Arrested in Russia on Drug Charges

WNBA All-Star Brittney Griner was arrested last month at a Moscow airport after Russian authorities said a search of her luggage revealed vape cartridges.

The Russian Customs Service said Saturday that the cartridges were identified as containing oil derived from cannabis, which could carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. The customs service identified the person arrested as a player for the U.S. women’s team and did not specify the date of her arrest. Russian media reported the player was Griner, and her agent, Lindsay Kagawa Colas, did not dispute those reports.

“We are aware of the situation with Brittney Griner in Russia and are in close contact with her, her legal representation in Russia, her family, her teams, and the WNBA and NBA,” Kagawa Colas said Saturday. “As this is an ongoing legal matter, we are not able to comment further on the specifics of her case but can confirm that as we work to get her home, her mental and physical health remain our primary concern.”

On Saturday, the State Department issued a “do not travel” advisory for Russia because of its invasion of Ukraine and urged all U.S. citizens to depart immediately, citing factors including “the potential for harassment against U.S. citizens by Russian government security officials” and “the Embassy’s limited ability to assist” Americans in Russia.

Griner, who plays for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, has played in Russia for the last seven years in the winter, earning over $1 million per season — more than quadruple her WNBA salary. She last played for her Russian team UMMC Ekaterinburg on Jan. 29 before the league took a two-week break in early February for the FIBA World Cup qualifying tournaments.

More than a dozen WNBA players were playing in Russia and Ukraine this winter, including league MVP Jonquel Jones and Courtney Vandersloot and Allie Quigley of the champion Chicago Sky. The WNBA confirmed Saturday that all players besides Griner had left both countries.

The 31-year-old Griner has won two Olympic gold medals with the U.S., a WNBA championship with the Mercury and a national championship at Baylor. She is a seven-time All-Star.

“Brittney Griner has the WNBA’s full support and our main priority is her swift and safe return to the United States,” the league said in a statement.

A basketball team plays for the transsexual girls of Cali - Cali - Colombia

Brenda Correa, Sarai Ocampo, Bianca Arango, Catalina de la O, Shaira Valencia and Stacie Zamora move like a fish in water at the Alfonso López neighborhood sports center.

There, in this sector of northeastern Cali, they seek to achieve the greatest number of baskets on the basketball court.

But this is not just another team in this discipline.

(Also read: Astonishment in Cali for the murder of the famous dancer ‘El negrito del gusto’)

Each basket they mark is done with their opponent in mind: knocking down homophobia and highlighting respect and tolerance for transgender women, as well as those who are members of the city’s LGBTQ+ community.

That is why the team is made up of members of the LGBTIQ+ community, who carry out activities, seeking a link in the sports field.

Stacie Zamora says that she has been an activist for gender equality and the rights of the LGBTQ+ population for 10 years, with the slogan of changing collective imaginaries.

A year ago he joined the Sports Secretariat and since then his conviction for inclusion has expanded, thinking of sports as the alternative.

Although the process has not been easy, little by little, transsexual women, like the nine players of Las Divas, as well as lesbians and gays have been opening space in the sector, despite situations of intolerance that they intend to leave behind, showing the importance of a healthy coexistence.

He said that the team was formed last year and its nine members had two names: Las Alfas and Las Divas, voting for the second.

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According to Stacie, basketball is the best path to integration and inclusion. They chose this sport because of the game conditions that involve less contact.

This work of inclusion began in commune 21, in eastern Cali, and has now moved to commune 7, where the Alfonso López neighborhood is located.

They do it in the neighborhood because they found the support of a coach who gives them advice every Wednesday afternoon.

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The manager of the Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation of Valle del Cauca (Indervalle), Carlos Felipe López, highlighted the work that this community does in northeastern Cali.

“From Indervalle, through the Development Sub-management, we have established a line of community social sports with the LGBTIQ+ community, with activities that allow this population to have a link in the sports field as recreational athletes, coaches, monitors and as workers of the entity”, highlighted the official.

CALI

'What I'm Doing Is Bigger Than Basketball'

Boston Celtics center Enes Kanter Freedom, an 11-year National Basketball Association (NBA) veteran, is known for his activism both on and off the court. A devout Muslim, he’s a prominent critic of the government of his native Turkey and the Chinese Communist Party. Turkey revoked his passport in 2017 and jailed his father, who was released in 2020. On Chinese search engines the 6-foot-10-inch basketball player’s name brings up no results since he began opposing Beijing’s alleged mistreatment of the Uyghurs, a Muslim minority, in Xinjiang. China denies the allegations of human rights violations, but Kanter comes up as “player No. 13” in searches for the Celtics scoring table.

VOA Mandarin spoke with the Swiss-born, Turkish-raised NBA player last month in Boston. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Q: Mr. Freedom, you have a unique last name. What does it mean to you, since it’s your name of choice and not from your parents?

A: I remember my first time coming to America in 2009, I came here to play basketball and go to school at the same time. I remember we were in the locker room and one of my teammates criticized the president of America. And I was very scared for him because I thought that he was going to be thrown in jail.

I even asked him … ‘Hey, you know … aren’t you scared?’ He turned around and laughed and said, ‘This is not Turkey.’ And he tried to explain to me a little bit about what freedom of speech means. I was still very shocked and amazed at the same time, and I researched, and I found out that not every country in the world is like Turkey.

And that’s why I wanted to make that word part of me and carry it everywhere I go. I also want all the young kids out there, NBA fans, sports fans out there, to just research about what freedom means and (that’s) why I chose that last name.

Q: Recently former NBA star Yao Ming invited you to visit China. You accepted his invitation and invited him to visit labor camps with you. Do you think that Yao Ming will come along, and will (Chinese President) Xi Jinping give you a visa?

A: I really wanted to go, and I wanted to go see. But I told him, ‘I don’t want propaganda. I don’t want a luxury tour of China. I want to see the real China and show the whole world what’s going on over there.’ I said that if I’m coming to China, let’s go visit (Uyghur) labor camps in Xinjiang, let’s go visit Tibet together. Let’s go visit Hong Kong. And after that, we can fly to Taiwan and see what democracy means.

And obviously, after I posted that video, I was very shocked that he (Yao Ming) blocked me on Instagram. I even put a tweet out and said, ‘That’s what the little kids do.’ I think what I will say to Yao Ming is: ‘Stop being a puppet of the Chinese Communist Party. Stop being a mouthpiece of Communist Party and Xi Jinping, if you want to have a real conversation, you know where I live. Just come here and we can have a conversation.’

Q: When people search Enes Kanter Freedom using Chinese search engines, there’re no results. It’s as if you don’t exist. What is your response to that?

A: Well, I’m actually kind of used to this. You know in Turkey, they ban my Twitter account, they censor all my basketball games in the whole country, and they censor my name because they’re scared. They know that I’m exposing them. And now when I saw that the Chinese government is doing the same thing, it actually gave me extra motivation because I know whatever I’m doing is right. Whatever I’m doing is really scaring them.

Q: Does being outspoken on human rights issues make any difference in your life as an NBA star? Have you faced pressure from (Celtics) management, the league, or the sponsors?

A: I remember the first time I put my ‘Free Tibet’ shoes on my feet. There were two gentlemen from the NBA and they came to me on the bench right before the game, and told me that ‘We are begging you take those shoes off.’ And I asked, ‘Am I breaking any rules?’ They said no. Then I told them, ‘Go tell your boss, whoever it is, (NBA Commissioner) Adam Silver, the Celtics owner, and whoever you’re talking to, I’m not taking my shoes off. I don’t care if I get banned or if I get fined.’ And they said OK.

That game was right before my citizenship test, and I was getting ready for it. There are 27 amendments, and my First Amendment (right) is freedom of speech. I didn’t want them to take that away from me.

Q: Being a basketball player and an activist at the same time, does it get a little bit overwhelming sometimes?

A: It could get overwhelming, yes. But at the end of the day knowing that you’re doing this for innocent people will always give you extra hope and motivation. Everyone thinks I’m a basketball player. Yes, I am a basketball player, but I think what I’m doing is bigger than basketball.

I want to make this very clear: I don’t do politics. Some people say that: stay away from politics, focus on basketball. But there’s a big difference between politics and human rights.

I never said vote for this guy, don’t vote for this guy. I always say we need to free political prisoners, we need to have human rights, we need to have freedom of speech, we need to bring awareness to countries like Taiwan or Ukraine. So I feel like this is bigger than basketball.