A funny deal. Russia announced Thursday, not without pride, to have exchanged a prisoner with the United States. Rather a prisoner, the American basketball player Brittney Griner who was imprisoned for cannabis trafficking, against the famous Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, detained across the Atlantic for more than ten years.
“On December 8, 2022, at Abu Dhabi airport, the exchange procedure of Russian citizen Viktor Bout for American citizen Brittney Griner, who were respectively serving sentences in penal institutions in the United States and Russia, was successfully completed,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Telegram.
Moscow stressed negotiating “for a long time” with Washington for the release of Viktor Bout, who was serving a twenty-five-year prison sentence there. Arrested in Thailand in 2008, then extradited, the fifty-year-old (55) is nicknamed the “merchant of death”. His journey was one of the inspirations of the film Lord of War in which Nicolas Cage plays a cynical arms dealer.
One of Brittney Griner’s lawyers in Russia, Maria Blagovolina, on Telegram, “confirmed that the exchange took place”. According to Russian diplomacy, “Washington categorically refused dialogue on the inclusion [de Viktor Bout] in an exchange mechanism. “Nevertheless, Russia continued to work actively to save our compatriot,” she continued. “Thanks to the efforts made, it was possible to agree with the American side to organize the exchange,” the Russian Foreign Ministry added.
Griner has “good morale”
Brittney Griner, 32, considered one of the best basketball players in the world, was arrested in February in Moscow in possession of a vaporizer containing cannabis-based liquid. She was sentenced in August to nine years in prison for trafficking cannabis.
US President Joe Biden said Thursday at the White House that she had “good morale” but would need time and privacy to overcome her “trauma”. The basketball star’s wife, Cherelle Griner, standing by his side, expressed her “sincere gratitude” to the president and his administration, saying she was “overwhelmed” with emotion.
In a statement, the family of Paul Whelan, an American who is serving a 16-year sentence in Russia for “espionage”, said they were “happy” for Brittney Griner, but “still devastated” to know Paul Whelan in a Russian prison , with the approach of Christmas that the family will spend “for the fourth time” without him.