Picture Credit: Twitter
The Phoenix Mercury started the WNBA season without their star centre Brittney Griner who has been detained in Russia for nearly three months. Mercury players honoured their star as they donned special warm-up t-shirts that said, ‘We are BG’.
The league showed their support towards Griner as they added decals with her initials on each home court of every team. Grinder was arrested for allegedly carrying vape cartridges with hashish oil which is an illegal substance in Russia. As reported, she was supposedly facing drug charges with 10 years of imprisonment.
Russian Federation has wrongfully detained Brittney Griner: State Department
Recently the U.S. government has announced the WNBA star Brittney Griner is "wrongfully detained" in Russia. The State Department spokesperson issued a comment to ABC News that said, “The welfare and safety of U.S. citizens abroad are among the highest priorities of the U.S government.”
“The Department of State has determined that the Russian Federation has wrongfully detained U.S. citizen Brittney Griner. With this determination, the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens will lead the interagency team for securing Brittney Griner's release.”
The State Department spokesperson also talked about how the U.S. is "deeply concerned about our lack of consistent consular access to these U.S. citizens in recent months."
"While the Government of Russia has allowed consular access in this instance, we continue to insist that they allow regular, timely consular access to all U.S. citizen detainees in Russia, including those in pre-trial detention.
“We take our responsibility to assist U.S. citizens seriously, and we will continue to press for fair and transparent treatment for all U.S. citizens when they are subject to legal processes overseas," the spokesperson added.”