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Cherelle Griner, the wife of WNBA star Brittney Griner, told CNN
on Thursday she wants U.S. officials to do whatever they have to
do to bring the basketball legend home � and she needs to see
them do more.

During an interview on the eve of her wife's trial in Russia,
Cherelle Griner sat in the Phoenix Mercury locker room and
called for more action.

"It's really, really difficult. This is not a situation where
the rhetoric is matching the action," she said. "I do have to
unfortunately push people to make sure that the things they're
telling me is also matching their actions and so it's been the
hardest thing to balance because I can't let up. It's over 130
days and BG's still not back."

Brittney Griner, 31, who has played in Russia during the WNBA's
offseason, was arrested Feb. 17 at a Moscow airport. Russian
authorities claimed she had cannabis oil in her luggage and
accused her of smuggling significant amounts of a narcotic
substance, an offense punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

Earlier this week, a Russian court scheduled her trial to start
Friday, according to her lawyer, and ruled her detention be
extended six months pending its outcome. The U.S. Embassy in
Moscow will send a diplomat to Friday's hearing, a U.S. official
has told CNN.

Cherelle Griner told CNN she wants to see more from U.S.
officials and meet with them to be reassured that they are "at
that phase where you're actually doing everything in your power
to bring her home," she said.

Right now, Cherelle said that what the U.S. government is saying
isn't matching their actions. She referred to a day when she was
supposed to speak to her wife and Brittney called the embassy in
Moscow 11 times but wasn't connected with Cherelle. The State
Department blamed the mistake on staffing restrictions imposed
by Russian officials.

"You don't have my trust at that point until I see actions that
are in BG's best interest," Cherelle said.

She also said she would "absolutely" like to meet with President
Joe Biden and humanize Brittney to him so he can "see BG as we
see BG."

"While everyone wants to tell me they care, I'd love for him to
tell me he cares," she added.

State Department says it is 'actively engaged'
U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Secretary of
State Antony Blinken met with Cherelle this week, Sullivan told
reporters Tuesday aboard Air Force One.

"Brittney Griner is wrongfully detained, unjustly detained and
we have made that clear as an official determination of the U.S.
government. Second, the Russian government should release her
and allow her to be returned and reunited with her family and
come home safe and sound," Sullivan said.

Sullivan declined to detail U.S. efforts to resolve Griner's
case, citing the "sensitive matter," but maintained that the
Biden administration is "actively engaged."

'Don't be quiet,' families of other detained Americans told her
While Cherelle has not been able to speak to Brittney, the
couple writes each other letters. Cherelle said Brittney
recently reassured her that her time in detention hasn't driven
her crazy after photos from Brittney's court appearance left her
wife disheartened. Brittany wrote that she is exhausted and it
was disconcerting to emerge into a courtroom where there were
100 or so media members and cameras, Cherelle said.

A photo from Kirill Kudryavstev of Agence France-Presse shows
Brittney at her preliminary hearing Monday, arriving at court
handcuffed and flanked by guards in black vests.

Cherelle noted her wife, who is 6-foot-9, has a five-hour round-
trip drive on court days, and when she is moved, she is in a
"very, very, very tiny cage" with her long legs bent at the knee.

Cherelle said she's also met with families of people who have
been or remain detained in Russia and other countries. She
described the families are loving, genuine and broken people.
"And the first thing they said was, you know, 'Do not be quiet
about this. Do not let them forget about your loved one,'" she
said.

It blew her mind when she learned that for some of those
families it has been a three- or four-year ordeal, she added.

"My heart was breaking hearing it because I, I pray to God, you
know, three years does not pass by and BG is still wrongfully
detained in Russia," she said.

Make a trade if that is what's necessary, wife says
Griner's supporters have expressed concern that she might be
used as a political pawn, given rising tensions amid Russia's
invasion of Ukraine.

At first, it was hard for her to imagine that her wife could be
used as a pawn, Cherelle told CNN. But she said realizes the
answer to the question whether it is possible is "Yes." She said
she thinks Russia can get something in return for letting
Brittney go

"And at this point, I want them to. Whatever you want, please
ask," she said with a laugh.

She said she hasn't listened much to what the measures are that
are being contemplated to bring her wife home.

But if a prisoner swap is what's necessary then, "Yes, do it."

Mercury coach wants Griner to be a priority for Washington
In a pregame news conference Wednesday, Phoenix Mercury head
coach Vanessa Nygaard said, "We've been hearing some more noise
from the Biden administration that there is -- they're
supporting us and they know this is a priority. Well, let's make
it a priority. I know our Phoenix community feels deeply.
Everywhere I go in Phoenix, everyone asks me about BG. ... We
just need our government and everybody in power to really push
for that (release)."

Nygaard also said that the team will be having a rally for
Griner next week.

Griner is one of the best basketball players in the world. The
center has won two Olympic gold medals and one WNBA title. She
has been a six-time WNBA All-Star, three times as a starter.
This season she will be honored as a starter in the All-Star
game, scheduled for July 10.

Last season, she averaged a sterling 20.5 points, 9.5 rebounds
and 1.9 blocks per game.

https://www.wlky.com/article/brittney-griner-trial-begins-in-
russia/40479466

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