WNBA star and Olympian Brittney Griner, who was released from a Russian prison last year, encouraged American journalist Evan Gershkovich in an interview with NBC News to “stay strong” following her sentencing in Russia on Friday.
Gershkovich was sentenced to 16 years in a maximum security prison after being found guilty of espionage in a case that his employer, the Wall Street Journal, and the US government condemned as a hoax.
Gershkovich, 32, has denied any wrongdoing in the case that went to trial last month in the city of Yekaterinburg, more than a year after he was arrested in the southern Russian city on espionage charges.
To watch the full interview, tune in to “NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt” tonight at 6:30pm ET/5:30pm CT or check your local listings.
Griner, who was released in December after serving about 10 months in a Russian penal colony, says her heart goes out to Gershkovich and her loved ones.
“I’ve been through it and I understand what it means,” Griner said in an interview with NBC’s Liz Kreutz.
“We have to get it back, we have to do it,” she said, with a message to the journalist: “Don’t lose hope.”
In February 2022, Griner traveled to Russia to play her eighth season in the country’s women’s basketball league. She was arrested at a Moscow airport after two vials of cannabis oil, totaling less than a gram, were found in her luggage at the Moscow airport.
Griner pleaded guilty at her trial in July, but said she had no criminal intent and inadvertently packed the containers as she hurriedly prepared for her flight. She was condemned to nine years in prison.
She was released after the Biden administration negotiated her release in exchange for arms dealer Viktor Bout.
Griner is preparing to head to Paris for her third Olympics — her first trip abroad since leaving Russia.
“I’m ready, I’m in a good place,” Griner said, adding that she has “a really good support system.”
Gershkovich was found guilty of collecting secret information about the activities of a defense company for the production and repair of military equipment on instructions from US intelligence services.
Sverdlovsk Regional Court Judge Andrei Mineyev remanded Gershkovich in custody until his sentence can be legally carried out. The journalist must also cover legal fees, worth just over US$75.
His defense team has 15 days to appeal the sentence.
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