Basketball player Brittney Griner when she was detained in Russia, August 4, 2022 in Moscow (AFP / Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV)
American basketball star Brittney Griner is expected Thursday night in the United States after being released from a Russian prison in exchange for an arms dealer nicknamed the “merchant of death”.
Brittney Griner, 32, who was arrested in Russia in February on drug trafficking charges, and Viktor Bout, 55, who was serving a 25-year sentence in a US prison, were swapped at an airport in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
In Russian security service video released by TASS, a tall figure in a red jacket walks down a tarmac, a small, smiling man with a gray mustache walks up to meet him. Men in suits who accompany them greet each other on both sides and then leave in the opposite direction.
In the images of the exchange, which seems straight out of the Cold War, the sportswoman appears with her hair cropped, without her usual long dreadlocks.
“A few moments ago I spoke with Brittney Griner. She is safe. She is on a plane. She is on her way to the United States,” US President Joe Biden said earlier. during a brief address at the White House.
The basketball player is expected overnight from Thursday to Friday in the United States. She has “good morale” despite the “trauma” endured, added the American president.
In a statement, Brittney Griner’s family said, “We would like to express our sincere gratitude to President Biden and his administration for their tireless work in bringing Brittney home.”
– “Relief” –
In another video broadcast by the pro-Kremlin channel RT, we see Brittney Griner leaving her penal colony bags in hand. A guard asks her in Russian “Do you think you will come back here one day?”.
FSB images show her boarding a plane in the snow, then ensuring from the cabin to be “happy”, specifying that she did not know where she was being led.
US President Joe Biden announces the release of basketball player Brittney Griner, his wife Cherelle Griner (d) by his side, on December 8, 2022 in Washington (AFP / Brendan Smialowski)
In the United States, the basketball player’s wife, Cherelle Griner, said she was “overwhelmed by emotions”.
“Not a day in the last 10 months that we haven’t carried Brittney Griner in our hearts and thoughts,” said WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert, who also hinted that the basketball player would land in Texas.
Saudi Arabia also participated in the exchange procedure, according to a joint statement with the United Arab Emirates, specifying that “the mediation was carried out” by the President of the Emirates Mohammed bin Zayed and by the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. .
Joe Biden thanked Abu Dhabi but the White House still qualified his role as well as that of Saudi Arabia.
“The only countries that participated in the negotiations are the United States and Russia,” said US executive spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre.
A senior US official said talks with Moscow remained focused on Brittney Griner’s release, and the US has made this known to Ukraine and other allies.
– Paul Whelan “strongly disappointed” –
Another American detained in Russia, former serviceman Paul Whelan, was not included in the exchange. “Even if we failed to secure Paul’s release, we will never give up,” assured Joe Biden.
Basketball player Brittney Griner escorted to the courtroom for sentencing, August 4, 2022 near Moscow (POOL/Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV)
In a call with CNN from his penal colony in Russia, Paul Whelan said he was “strongly disappointed”. “I don’t understand why I’m still here,” he said.
In a statement, her family said they were “happy” for Ms Griner but “still devastated” to know Paul Whelan in a Russian prison.
Arrested in December 2018 in Russia, he was sentenced to sixteen years in prison for “espionage”, a conviction which he denounced as fabricated from scratch.
– “Merchant of death” –
Brittney Griner, a 32-year-old African-American sportswoman and two-time Olympic champion, was arrested in February at a Moscow airport with a vape and liquid containing cannabis, a product banned in Russia.
In August, she was sentenced to nine years in prison and then, after her appeal was rejected, was transferred in November to a penal colony in central Russia.
Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, April 9, 2008 in a Bangkok prison (AFP / Saeed KHAN)
His supporters have always denounced a hostage-taking to haggle with Washington in the midst of the conflict in Ukraine.
The name of Viktor Bout had been mentioned in the summer. Famous Russian arms trafficker, arrested in Thailand in 2008, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison in the United States.
Viktor Bout landed in Russia on Thursday, according to a Russian public television channel. “Don’t worry, everything is fine, I love you very much,” he told his mother, Raïssa Bout, when he arrived in his country. He found his relatives a few hours later in Moscow.
Nicknamed the “merchant of death”, his extraordinary career served as inspiration for the film “Lord of War” with Nicolas Cage.
Speaking to Viktor Bout in a video message, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said he was aware that the arms dealer had been subjected to “powerful physical and moral pressure” during his stay in prison in the United States, reported the Russian news agency TASS.
“And you endured this with dignity,” he added, saying that Moscow was “sincerely delighted that Russia’s efforts for your release were finally successful.”
Americans and Russians accuse each other of detaining their respective nationals for political purposes. Several prisoner exchanges have taken place in the past.