XPost: alt.niggers, talk.politics.guns, alt.politics.democrats   
   XPost: sac.politics   
   From: nigger-lovers@disney.com   
      
   Let the dumb nigger rot.   
      
   The State Department reiterated its belief that Russia is   
   "wrongfully" detaining WNBA superstar Brittney Griner shortly   
   after she pleaded guilty in court on Thursday.   
      
   Griner, who has been detained in Russia since she was arrested   
   on charges of possessing vape cartridges with hashish oil in mid-   
   February, pleaded guilty to bringing it into Russia, explaining   
   to a judge that she had done so "inadvertently."   
      
   "I was in a rush packing, and the cartridges accidentally ended   
   up in my bag," she said.   
      
   "As we have stated before, we believe the Russian Federation is   
   wrongfully detaining Brittney Griner under intolerable   
   circumstances," a department official told the Washington   
   Examiner. "At the president’s direction, the U.S. government   
   continues to work aggressively, pursuing every avenue, to bring   
   her home safely to her family, friends, and loved ones as soon   
   as possible. We will continue that work to secure Brittney’s   
   release, as well as the release of Paul Whelan and other U.S.   
   nationals who are wrongfully detained or held hostage in Russia   
   and around the world."   
      
   Griner faces a 10-year prison sentence in a judicial system that   
   overwhelmingly finds defendants guilty of their alleged crimes.   
      
   BRITTNEY GRINER PLEADS GUILTY TO DRUG CHARGE IN RUSSIAN COURT   
      
   The State Department deemed her to be "wrongfully detained" in   
   early May, a designation that moves her case under the   
   supervision of the special presidential envoy for hostage   
   affairs. The official on Thursday declined to explain why the   
   department considers her "wrongfully detained," saying that the   
   office "will not get into details of internal deliberative   
   processes. "   
      
   "The department reviews cases of U.S. nationals detained abroad   
   to determine whether they are wrongful detentions," the official   
   added. "The review assesses the facts of the case against   
   numerous criteria.  For privacy or operational reasons, we do   
   not always make wrongful detention determinations public."   
      
   The Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking   
   Accountability Act, which Congress passed in 2020, codified how   
   the government handles international kidnappings and arrests. It   
   details 11 criteria that the secretary of state should consider   
   when determining whether an American has been unlawfully or   
   wrongfully detained, though the responsibility now falls to the   
   deputy secretary.   
      
   The determining factors break down to whether there is   
   information that the charges against an American could be   
   trumped up, whether the person is being targeted for being an   
   American, if the person has had his or her due process impeded   
   or is held in "inhumane conditions," and whether the government   
   behind the detainment is attempting to secure concessions from   
   the United States.   
      
   Mickey Bergman, the vice president of the Richardson Center, an   
   organization dedicated to negotiating the release of prisoners   
   and hostages held by hostile regimes, told the Washington   
   Examiner that he and the organization “believe that any prisoner   
   in a situation like [Griner’s] needs to do what they believe can   
   help them survive the ordeal," in response to her guilty plea.   
   "She is fighting for her life.”   
      
   There is public speculation that the Biden administration could   
   come to an agreement with the Kremlin for a prisoner exchange,   
   though Griner isn't the only American the U.S. considers   
   wrongfully detained in Russia. Whelan was sentenced to 16 years   
   in prison in June 2020 on espionage charges.   
      
   The two sides already agreed to a swap in the spring that   
   resulted in the returns of Trevor Reed, a former Marine who had   
   been held for more than two years, and Konstantin Yaroshenko, a   
   Russian pilot serving a 20-year federal prison sentence in   
   Connecticut for conspiracy to smuggle drugs.   
      
   The Russians will likely call for the release of arms trafficker   
   Viktor Bout, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison after being   
   arrested and convicted of agreeing to sell heavy weapons to a   
   Colombian terrorist organization. Bout's lawyer, Steve Zissou,   
   told the Washington Examiner on Thursday, "The reality is it   
   remains to be seen if each country's leadership has the courage   
   to do what should otherwise be obvious."   
      
   https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/foreign/state-   
   department-griner-wrongfully-detained-after-guilty-plea   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)