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Hostage experts told Fox News Digital that the guilty plea of imprisoned basketball player Brittney Griner for drug charges could help accelerate her escape from Russia.
“In any case, the Russian system is not ours, so I can’t say whether it’s right or wrong,” said Hugh Dugan, a special envoy for hostage issues during the Trump administration. “But it’s a bet based on the direction in which her lawyer advises her.
“OK to our eyes, this seems to put her in that state they can. [prisoner] swap. “
Greener, Convicted of drug charges July 7 has been held in Russia since February after Russian authorities announced that they had found an arc cartridge containing hashish oil in their luggage.
Growth trends in hostage diplomacy with Russian prisoner Brittney Griner
Plea guilty does not put an end to the case, but some suggest that it can speed up the process with Grinner’s removal from prison.She was able to qualify herself for a prisoner exchange between Moscow and Washington DC
Dugan explained in the book that Greener had to return to the United States and end his sentence in an American prison.
“In that type of prisoner exchange, you are supposed to end your sentence and respect the judgment of each country,” he said, “Russians put their man in jail there for another prisoner.” You would doubt to sit down, “he added. For many years.
“That means setting up a particular prison here for at least the next 10 years, at least if it’s a consular procedure on these issues and a well-meaning prisoner exchange based on an agreement with Russia,” Dugan said. I added. “We have it [Trevor] Lead. Even when I was acting, I had never seen it happen with such an arrangement. ”
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Rebekah Koffler, president of Doctrine & Strategy Consulting and former DIA intelligence officer, explained that most of the transaction details were not disclosed and remained within the diplomatic channel.
“They don’t want to publish anything,” she said. “One of the very differences between the Russian system and the American system is that there is virtually no independent judicial process, especially in the case of such high visibility.”
“Russians say she wasn’t illegally detained. She was in possession of drugs,” Koffler continued. “It’s basically a clash between the two legal systems.”
She added that it depends on “what Putin wants”.
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Dugan worried that by pleading guilty, Grinner might have strengthened Russia’s bargaining position, even if Grinner was qualified to exchange prisoners and intended to expedite his escape from Moscow.
Part of the problem arises from Greener’s “acknowledgement” of her criminal activity. This claimed that Dugan made it difficult to classify her as a hostage. He said the authorities had a hard time discussing her “hostage” status because she had already taken pretrial proceedings for several months.
“It’s a roll of dice about what we’re dealing with,” he said, and if Greener tried to claim her innocence, a Russian court would hold her next hearing for months or years. He said it could be set later. “Russia will do what it wants to do … it’s like a situation where you just can’t win.”
And Grinner is not the only American under Russian control. Trevor Reed has recently returned home, but Paul Whelan, an executive at automated supplier BorgWarner, remains in prison after being left behind in a prisoner exchange that sent Reed back home.
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The James W. Foley Legacy Foundation, which tracks Americans illegally detained abroad, has 60 detained in countries including Belarus, China, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, Nicaragua, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey and Venezuela. Lists above US citizens. Above all, according to Reuters.