Brittney Griner raises concern for Americans wrongly detained abroad on the first anniversary of her release

Basketball star Brittney Griner marked one year since her release from a Russian jail by recognizing the plight of other Americans unjustly detained abroad, and she called for more efforts to secure their freedom. 

In a statement released as a holiday card, Griner and her wife, Cherelle, thanked the public for their support, saying it was important in helping secure her release on Dec. 8, 2022, and highlighted how Americans Paul Whelan and Evan Gershkovich remain wrongfully imprisoned in Russia, among others held abroad.  

“As you gather with loved ones and take part in your family’s traditions, please tell them how much you love them and also, please take a moment to think about and share a story, send a letter or call a representative about one of the many Americans being held away from their families this holiday season,” the Griners wrote in the statement. 

Griner spent 11 months in a Russian prison, arrested for carrying a vape cartridge with less than a gram of hashish, but she was convicted on drug smuggling charges. The Biden administration rejected these charges, determining Griner’s arrest as politically motivated as it occurred shortly before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

While Griner’s release was secured with the U.S. exchanging convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout, the Russian government has rejected other American overtures for prisoner exchanges.

The administration said Whelan, arrested in 2018, is unjustly imprisoned in Russia on charges of spying, and it has made the same determination for Gershkovich, a reporter for The Wall Street Journal who was arrested in March and charged by Russia with espionage.

National security spokesperson John Kirby said Friday that the Russians “balked” at a U.S. proposal to secure Whelan and Gershkovich’s release. 

“We’re back at the blackboard and we’re going to keep seeing what we can do to try to get them out,” Kirby said. 

Whelan, in a statement delivered through his family, expressed anger at the Biden administration for failing to secure his release alongside Griner in 2022, and for leaving him behind in April 2022 when Russia agreed to release Trevor Reed in exchange for the return of a convicted Russian drug smuggler. 

“This game of diplomatic niceties and pleasant dialogue needs to end,” Whelan said in the statement.

“The White House, National Security Council and Department of State must take decisive action to secure my release. President Biden, I have paid a high price for being an American citizen. A promise is a promise. The clock is ticking on getting this done. Please bring me home.”

Congress in 2020 passed legislation establishing the Special Representative for Hostage Affairs to concentrate government efforts to advocate for and secure the release of Americans unjustly imprisoned or taken hostage abroad. 

Part of the legislation includes the government making a determination that a person imprisoned is wrongfully detained, such as the determinations made in the case of Whelan and Gershkovich.

While it’s not clear the exact number of Americans unjustly detained overseas, a September report by the James P. Foley Foundation found that 79 percent of the U.S. nationals detained in 2022 were in China, Iran, Russia or Venezuela. 

The Biden administration in September succeeded in securing the release of five Americans wrongfully detained in Iran and has acknowledged that at least three U.S. citizens are wrongfully detained in Venezuela. 

The administration is also working to secure the release of more than 130 hostages held in the Gaza Strip by Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, with some of those held hostage holding U.S. citizenship.