On February 17, Brittney Griner, who plays for the WNBA team Phoenix Mercury and won two Olympic gold medals, was arrested at an airport in Moscow after Russian authorities said they had found e-cigarettes with traces of cannabis oil in her luggage. Since then, the basketball star has been detained in Russia.
Swedish basketball star Amanda Zahui tells SVT that she exchanges letters with Griner.
“Meaning a lot”
– In my first letter, I wrote how much she meant to me and my family. I also wrote how grateful I am that she helped my mother as she went through her cancer treatment. Brittney is her mother’s idol, says Amanda Zahui.
She continues:
– I do not know what exactly she goes through in a Russian prison as a black woman who does not look like everyone else. She still says she’s fine. She says she can have her own clothes. I do not even know if there are such large prison clothes. But she still says she’s fine, but I do not know if it’s because she does not want to worry us.
Zahui is asked if she thinks Griner is censored in her letters:
– The letters are handwritten and that is her signature. I do not think she writes 100% truth about how it is because they read the letters. But she seems to be in a better mood than I would be in that situation, says Zahui.
Detained
Earlier in May, Griner’s lawyer Alexander Bojkov announced that Griner had been detained for another month pending trial.
US President Joe Biden’s administration has said Griner was detained on false grounds, and US authorities are working to get her released.
Griner has played in Russia for the past seven years during the WNBA’s winter break.