Brittney Griner's lawyers hope for 'lenient' sentencing

Lawyers for detained American basketball star Brittney Griner hope that she will receive a “lenient” sentencing after she pleaded guilty to drug-trafficking charges.

Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medallist who played professional basketball in Russia, was detained at a Moscow airport in February days before the country's invasion of Ukraine.

The athlete was charged with drug smuggling for possessing vape cartridges with cannabis oil and faces a possible 10-year prison sentence.

She made a court appearance in the Moscow suburb of Khimki on Tuesday.

Alexander Boykov, a lawyer for Griner, told reporters she would “probably” be cross-examined on Wednesday.

Mr Boykov said her defence team is hoping for a lenient sentencing, citing “a lot of extenuating circumstances”.

He added that Griner only used cannabis “occasionally” to relieve pain and that she had permission from an American doctor to use it for medicinal purposes.

“We are not arguing that Brittney took it here as a medicine. We are still saying that she involuntarily brought it here because she was in a rush,” Mr Boykov said after the session in which a Russian neuropsychologist gave evidence about the worldwide use of medicinal cannabis.

Maria Blagovolina, a lawyer, added: “With the prescription in place, Brittney may have used it for medical but not recreational purposes.”

Griner listened to the proceedings via a translator. Before sitting in the defendant's cage, she held up a piece of paper with pictures of her two best friends and her wife, Cherelle, wearing her number 42 jersey, the number she wears when playing for her WNBA team, the Phoenix Mercury.

Elizabeth Rood, the US embassy chargé d'affaires, told reporters that Griner was “doing OK and as well as can be expected”.

US officials have designated Griner as “wrongfully detained” and demanded her immediate release. Moscow claims the case has nothing to do with politics.

President Joe Biden said he has spoken to Griner's wife and called it a “priority” to bring her back to the US.

Agencies contributed to this report

Notable salonnières of the Middle East through history

Al Khasan (Okaz, Saudi Arabia)

Tamadir bint Amr Al Harith, known simply as Al Khasan, was a poet from Najd famed for elegies, earning great renown for the eulogy of her brothers Mu’awiyah and Sakhr, both killed in tribal wars. Although not a salonnière, this prestigious 7th century poet fostered a culture of literary criticism and could be found standing in the souq of Okaz and reciting her poetry, publicly pronouncing her views and inviting others to join in the debate on scholarship. She later converted to Islam.

Maryana Marrash (Aleppo)

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Princess Nazil Fadil (Cairo)

Princess Nazil Fadil gathered religious, literary and political elite together at her Cairo palace, although she stopped short of inviting women. The princess, a niece of Khedive Ismail, believed that Egypt’s situation could only be solved through education and she donated her own property to help fund the first modern Egyptian University in Cairo.

Mayy Ziyadah (Cairo)

Ziyadah was the first to entertain both men and women at her Cairo salon, founded in 1913. The writer, poet, public speaker and critic, her writing explored language, religious identity, language, nationalism and hierarchy. Born in Nazareth, Palestine, to a Lebanese father and Palestinian mother, her salon was open to different social classes and earned comparisons with souq of where Al Khansa herself once recited.

Brittney Griner's lawyers hope for 'lenient' sentencing

US basketball star was using cannabis for medicinal purposes, defence team says

Notable salonnières of the Middle East through history