Current Events > Russia wants to trade WNBA Brittney Griner for the Lord of War

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.foxnews.com/sports/brittney-griner-prisoner-swap-merchant-death-russian-media-claims

Brittney Griner was seen in a Russian courtroom on Friday and her pre-trial detention was extended for a month.

Griner was arrested in February at a Moscow airport for allegedly carrying vape cartridges containing oils derived from cannabis and could face up to 10 years in prison if shes convicted.

However, a trade might be on the table. Russias TASS agency reported, citing a source, that talks were underway in a prisoner exchange Griner for notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout.

Bout is in the middle of a 25-year sentence in federal prison after he was convicted of conspiracy to kill Americans relating to the support of a Colombian terrorist organization.

He was dubbed the "Merchant of Death" because of his notoriety for running a fleet of aging Soviet-era cargo planes to conflict-ridden hotspots in Africa. His dealings inspired the Nicolas Cage film "Lord of War."....

https://youtu.be/24AuL2v1O_o

Can we counter offer Henry Kissinger instead?

Ehhh thats a loser trade if i ever saw one. How many lives do we potentially lose by letting this guy go free. Over somebody dumb enough to carry weed overseas

For the record, i am saying let her do the 10 years. Not anything else you guys are making up.

Trading a terrorist for a athelete that most likely had cannabis oils planted on them.

We're gonna make the trade, aren't we?

SauI_Goodman posted...

Ehhh thats a loser trade if i ever saw one.

It's why they figured the current US leaders would accept.

Griner getting a decade of prison over oils is still stupid.

USA
Brittany Griner
2023 1st round pick (No Lottery Protection)

Russia
Victor Bout

Take it or leave it Putin

ClockworkHare posted...

It's why they figured the current US leaders would accept.

Griner getting a decade of prison over oils is still stupid.

Agreed.

ClockworkHare posted...

It's why they figured the current US leaders would accept.

Griner getting a decade of prison over oils is still stupid.

Russia has an extreme anti-drug policy so strict that stuff like methadone is banned.

Didnt Griner get arrested for domestic abuse in America? Doesnt seem like the type of person we want having potentially massive amounts of people killed for.

It's not right that she spend a decade in prison for bullshit charges... but this whole thing is fucked

Hopefully Americans stop going to Russia

https://i.imgur.com/a5U8n3I.png

Dakimakura posted...

Didnt Griner get arrested for domestic abuse in America? Doesnt seem like the type of person we want having potentially massive amounts of people killed for.

Yep.

Strider102 posted...

Trading a terrorist for a athelete that most likely had cannabis oils planted on them.

We're gonna make the trade, aren't we?

It's not in the US's favor at all. Russia clearly knows that.

Ethically it's very grey. Russia wants Bout for reasons they likely will never fully disclose and could potentially be put to use. Bout could also have sensitive knowledge they don't want out. There's a number of reasons he could be valuable. How they say they will continue his handling is not necessarily what they will actually do. They might agree to the condition of him continuing a prison sentence. That does not mean it will actually happen.

Griner is just an ordinary civilian. I sympathize with her situation, but her diplomatic value is quite low compared to keeping a warmongering arms dealer locked up and out of the hands of a rival nation. Ideally I would advocate for her freedom and return back to US soil. That's not necessarily how political heads will see it.

Imagine how often this scenario probably occurs without ever hitting the American news media. Griner's situation really spits in the eye of people who casually say they would be fine with a single innocent person staying locked up if it prevented violent offenders from being freed. What's happening here is not so different. So what would such people say now...?

If dismissing Griner's plight as a political hostage is wrong, so is ignoring the innocence of someone wrongfully imprisoned...even at the expense of freeing prisoners who are violent. If keeping the violent offenders locked up is supposedly more important at the cost of the innocent person's freedom, then by that same metric Bout's significance outweighs Griner's.

Either way, I hope Griner somehow makes it back to the US safely.
What passes for Russia's diplomacy has a long history of being an acquired taste at best.

Poison him then make the trade.

Conspiracy to kill Americans?

Don't take the trade, not with that kind of charge.

Yeah let's not do that.

SauI_Goodman posted...

For the record, i am saying let her do the 10 years

also to note. it's not a great idea to go to russia if american.
all they gotta do is arrest them = bargaining chips.

Bump