{"id":267267,"date":"2022-12-09T10:08:00","date_gmt":"2022-12-09T10:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/haftavasool.com\/haftavasool\/?p=267267"},"modified":"2022-12-09T10:08:00","modified_gmt":"2022-12-09T10:08:00","slug":"watch-us-russia-prisoner-swap-on-airport-tarmac-basketball-star-freed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/haftavasool.com\/haftavasool\/blog\/2022\/12\/09\/watch-us-russia-prisoner-swap-on-airport-tarmac-basketball-star-freed\/","title":{"rendered":"Watch: US-Russia Prisoner Swap On Airport Tarmac, Basketball Star Freed"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"Watch:<\/div>\n

President Joe Biden announced Griner’s release early Thursday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Washington: <\/b><\/p>\n

American basketball star Brittney Griner was headed back to the United States on Thursday after being released from a Russian prison in exchange for an arms dealer known as the “Merchant of Death.”<\/p>\n

Griner, 32, who was arrested in Russia in February on drug charges, and Viktor Bout, 55, who was serving a 25-year sentence in a US prison, were exchanged at an airport in Abu Dhabi.<\/p>\n

In footage released by Russian state media, Griner, shorn of her distinctive dreadlocks, and a relaxed and animated Bout could be seen crossing paths on the airport tarmac and heading towards the planes that would take them home.<\/p>\n

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President Joe Biden announced Griner’s release early Thursday in an address to the nation at the White House. “She is safe. She is on a plane. She is on her way home,” he said.<\/p>\n

The president said he had spoken to her and she was in “good spirits” after suffering “needless trauma.”<\/p>\n

Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, WNBA champion and LGBT trailblazer, was arrested at a Moscow airport nine months ago against a backdrop of soaring tensions over Ukraine.<\/p>\n

She was accused of possession of vape cartridges with a small quantity of cannabis oil and sentenced in August to nine years in prison.<\/p>\n

Bout, who was accused of arming rebels in some of the world’s bloodiest conflicts, was detained in a US sting operation in Thailand in 2008, extradited to the United States and sentenced in 2012 to 25 years behind bars.<\/p>\n

He landed in Russia Thursday, state television said. “Don’t worry, everything is OK, I love you very much,” he told his mother Raisa.<\/p>\n

While Griner’s family and friends celebrated her release, another American held in Russia, Paul Whelan, a former US Marine detained since 2018 and accused of spying, was not part of Thursday’s exchange and he told CNN he was “greatly disappointed.”<\/p>\n

“I don’t understand why I’m still sitting here,” Whelan told the US television network in a phone call from the Russian penal colony where he is imprisoned.<\/p>\n

Biden pledged to obtain Whelan’s freedom, saying “we will never give up.”<\/p>\n

“Sadly, for totally illegitimate reasons, Russia is treating Paul’s case different than Brittney’s,” he said.<\/p>\n

As for Griner’s release, Biden said “this is a day we’ve worked toward for a long time. It took painstaking and intense negotiations.”<\/p>\n

‘Family is whole’<\/strong><\/p>\n

Biden made the announcement flanked by Griner’s wife, Cherelle Griner, Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.<\/p>\n

“I’m just standing here, overwhelmed with emotions,” Cherelle Griner said.<\/p>\n

She acknowledged Whelan’s fate, saying: “Today my family is whole, but as you all are aware there’s so many other families who are not whole.”<\/p>\n

In a statement late Thursday, the Griner family thanked President Biden and his administration again, and said they “pray for Paul and for the swift and safe return of all wrongfully-detained Americans.”<\/p>\n

“We ask that you respect our privacy as we embark on this road to healing,” they added.<\/p>\n

WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said there was a “collective wave of joy and relief” in the women’s professional league where the 6’9″ (2.06 meter) Griner has been a star for a decade with the Phoenix Mercury.<\/p>\n

Biden thanked the United Arab Emirates for helping “facilitate” Griner’s release and the UAE issued a joint statement with Saudi Arabia saying it was the result of “mediation efforts” by leaders of the two Arab nations.<\/p>\n

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, however, there was “no mediation involved” and “the only countries that negotiated this deal were the United States and Russia.”<\/p>\n

‘Rescue our compatriot’<\/strong><\/p>\n

At the time of her arrest, Griner had been playing for a professional team in Russia, as a number of WNBA players do in the off-season.<\/p>\n

She pleaded guilty to the charges against her, but said she did not intend to break the law or use the banned substance in Russia.<\/p>\n

Griner testified that she had permission from a US doctor to use medicinal cannabis to relieve pain from her many injuries.<\/p>\n

The use of medical marijuana is not allowed in Russia.<\/p>\n

The Russian foreign ministry said it had been negotiating with Washington to secure Bout’s release “for a long time” and that initially the United States had “refused dialogue” on including him in any swap.<\/p>\n

“Nevertheless, the Russian Federation continued to actively work to rescue our compatriot,” it said. “The Russian citizen has been returned to his homeland.”<\/p>\n

The 2005 film “Lord of War” starring Nicolas Cage was based in part on Bout’s arms trafficking exploits and he has been the subject of several books and TV shows.<\/p>\n

Russia’s ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, told Bout in a video message that he was aware that the arms dealer had been subjected to “powerful physical and moral pressure” while in prison, Russian news agency TASS reported.<\/p>\n

“And you endured it with dignity,” the ambassador added, saying Moscow was “genuinely delighted by the fact that Russia’s efforts for your release have eventually succeeded.”<\/p>\n

Asked about Bout’s release, a senior US defense official said “there is a concern that he would return to doing the same kind of work that he’s done in the past.”<\/p>\n

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)<\/i><\/p>\n

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