Disclaimer: This article may contain the viewpoint and opinion of the author.
Russia is a foreign nation. Part of it is Europe and part of it is in Asia. It used to be called the Soviet Union. Even though the hardline Communist Party lost control in 1991, the influence of that government is still prevalent throughout the country.
Russia is not the United States. The laws and the culture are different. Even though it is no longer behind the Iron Curtain, it is still very different than what we are used to in America.
Cannabis, hashish oil, marijuana, and other drugs are legalized in the United States to varying degrees. Marijuana, in some places, is as important to people as water. It is still illegal in Russia unless used for some industrial purpose.
Brittany Griner should have known what the Russian laws are. She has been playing in the former Soviet Union for several years now. Griner chose to break the law and because of that, she is now sentenced to nine years in a Russian prison.
“A Russian court has found Brittney Griner guilty on drug smuggling and possession charges. The widely expected verdict comes after a monthlong trial and nearly six months after the basketball star was arrested at a Russian airport with cannabis in her luggage,” NPR reported.
It is a harsh sentence. We have murderers doing less time in the United States. That is a combination of how soft we have become and how strict Russian laws are. The bottom line is, however, that Russia is not the United States. The NBA and WNBA don’t like the sentence.
Fox’s Judge Jeanine Pirro does not feel bad for Griner. She said, “Griner goes to their country, she knows their laws, she knows their culture. She was in a rush and did not mean to break the law,” Pirro said. A lot of people do not mean to break the law. Does that make it okay”?
Griner is a professional athlete who plays in the WNBA. She is coddled and treated like royalty in America. Professional athletes aren’t treated like that in Russia. Even hockey players aren’t treated like that in Russia.
People will say she was only in Russia because she does not get equal pay here in the United States compared to the men who play in the NBA. The average attendance for a WNBA game is around 2,600 people while the NBA average attendance is 17,000.
Griner chose to play in Russia to make more money. She was reportedly getting paid 1 million dollars to play for Ekaterinburg, which is owned by a Russian oligarch. Oligarchs are former Soviet Union officials who made money when the USSR fell through criminal activity.
Today, Griner sits in a Russian jail cell. Her sentence of nine years will most likely not happen. The United States government and the Russian government are negotiating a prisoner swap. The Biden Administration has offered some high-value prisoners for Griner and Paul Whelan.
Whelan, a former Marine, was arrested on suspicion of being an American spy and sentenced to sixteen years in jail. Reports are the U.S. is offering Viktor Bout, the merchant of death.
The Russians initially turned it down. They did so because the Biden team made the talks public. The administration had to placate the social justice warriors of the WNBA and ESPN but by doing so, may have kept their colleague in jail longer than she would have been.
The United States and Russia will continue to talk. There is no doubt it will get done. It is just a matter of time. It is ironic, that the Democrats have hammered the Russians for interfering with American elections and other criminal behavior over the last two years.
Now, they need the Russians to cooperate with them. However, let’s be honest. The majority of Americans do not care.
