Nine Years? Brittney Griner Is a Political Prisoner
Russia will regard any prisoner swap as a propaganda win. But the real message we can proclaim is about American values.
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Brittney Griner has been sentenced to nine years in a Russian penal colony for possessing a tiny amount of cannabis oil. Griner’s case was never about a minor offense against Russia law (which was real, for what that’s worth). It’s about what kind of country Russia has become as its president, Vladimir Putin, has descended into anti-Western hysteria while initiating foreign wars and ramping up internal repression.
