Brittney Griner appeared in a Russian court on Monday for a preliminary hearing ahead of her July 1 trial for drug charges. The Phoenix Mercury star was detained at Moscow Airport in February after cannabis oil was allegedly found in her luggage. If convicted, Griner could be set to face a 10-year prison sentence; fewer than one in 100 trial defendants are acquitted in Russia. The arrest of the WNBA player has been slammed by human-rights organizations, who see the trial as politically motivated in response to America’s strident opposition to Vladimir Putin’s merciless war in Ukraine. The State Department designated Griner as wrongfully detained in May, when it passed oversight of her case to its presidential envoy for hostage affairs.
