On Tuesday, Russian state media agency TASS reported that Brittney Griner’s detention has been extended yet again.
According to investigative reporter T.J. Quinn of ESPN, this move was expected. In fact, this is expected to happen “again and again” until a deal is reached with the U.S. government to bring her home.
These extensions are being viewed as “theater” and a “negotiation tactic.”
“Hostage diplomacy cases rely on the pretense of law. The Russians won’t ever say ‘we’re holding Brittney Griner hostage,’ but by repeatedly postponing her trial, they’re communicating their intentions,” Danielle Gilbert, assistant professor of military and strategic studies at the U.S. Air Force Academy said, per ESPN. “Dragging out her detention, missing court deadlines — these are key indicators that we should question the legitimacy of her arrest, precisely why the U.S. classified it as a wrongful detention.”
A report from last month suggested that Russia might be interested in trading Griner for Russian businessman Viktor Bout, who’s currently serving a 25-year prison sentence in the United States for selling arms to terrorists.
Griner, a WNBA superstar, has been detained in Russia since she was arrested for cannabis-oil vape cartridges that were allegedly found in her luggage at a Moscow airport on February 17.
The U.S. government says she was wrongfully detained and the sports world has been campaigning for her release for months.
Officials from the State Department met with Griner’s Phoenix Mercury teammates on Monday.