US basketball star Brittney Griner said at her trial Wednesday that she had no intention of smuggling drugs into Russia. “I did not think of or plan to bring banned substances into Russia,” Griner, a two-time Olympic basketball gold medallist, told a court in the town of Khimki just outside Moscow.
She was detained at a Moscow airport in February, just days before Moscow launched its offensive in Ukraine. Here are some other quotes from Wednesday`s testimony by U.S. basketball star to a Russian court trying her for possession of drugs, after she was detained at a Moscow airport in February with vape cartridges containing hashish oil.
ON BEING DETAINED AT THE AIRPORT
The seven years I`ve been coming back and forth to Moscow multiple times, I`ve never seen so many people working that day. There were a lot of custom agents and people behind the scanners that day. It was a little abnormal. I walked through the metal detector. And on the other side, I was instructed to come around and open my bag up.
There were documents that I had to sign. I can only assume that they were about the search and the cartridges. We had to use my phone and Google Translate for him (an official) to be able to tell me a little bit. There was a lady that was there that they said was an interpreter, but it was more just her telling me `surname, sign`. Really short words. She didn`t explain the content of the paper. I didn`t know exactly what I was signing.
No, my rights were never read to me. No one explained any of it to me. At that point, I got on my phone and I contacted my spouse, my sports agent and my club team`s translator.
ALSO READ | Basketballer Brittney Griner treated injuries with medical cannabis, defence argues
ASKED WHY SHE RETURNED TO RUSSIA IN FEBRUARY
It`s the most important part of the season, after the break. It`s playoffs. The whole season I worked, my team worked hard to get to a good position. There was nothing that was going to change that for me. I didn`t want to let my team down. I did know about the `do not fly` advisory, but like I said, there was nothing that was going to change my mind on coming back and finishing my duty for my team.
ON USING MEDICAL CANNABIS
Because of my injuries that I`ve had over the long career of basketball. From my spine, no cartilage in my knee. I was in a wheelchair for four months. I broke my ankle and I also sprained my knee really bad. So I was wheelchair-bound. The benefits from medical cannabis definitely outweigh the painkillers that they prescribe. The painkillers have really bad side effects. Medical cannabis, there are honestly no side effects that harm you.
ON PACKING BEFORE LEAVING FOR RUSSIA
The medical cannabis that was found in my luggage was my property, purchased in Phoenix. I still don`t understand to this day how they ended up in my bag. If I had to speculate, if I had to guess on how they ended up in my bags, I was in a rush packing. I was recovering from COVID, the stress of packing, making sure I had my COVID tests. Jet lag. And I was in a rush, throwing my stuff into my bag.
In the seven years that I came back and forth (to Russia), I never brought any substance that needed to be declared. And I didn`t plan on bringing any substance when I came on Feb. 17. The rules change everywhere on what you can and can`t bring into the country. And our team is always giving us updates and making sure that we know all the rules for whatever border we`re crossing or country we`re going into.
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
