Russian court rejects US basketball star Brittney Griner appeal against 9-year sentence

A Russian court has rejected an appeal by US basketball star Brittney Griner against her nine-year jail term for drug charges. The court upheld the sentence, with the state prosecutor calling it "fair".

Griner and her lawyers had asked for acquittal or at least a reduction in her sentence, which they said was disproportionate to the offence and at odds with Russian judicial practice.

The presiding judge said that the verdict was upheld "without changes" except for the counting of time served in pre-trial



detention as part of the sentence.

The double Olympic winner apologised for her "honest mistake" in her appeal hearing via video link. Thirty-one-year-old Griner was convicted in August of smuggling and possessing cannabis oil.

Griner, who is considered one of the world's top players, was detained in February at an airport near Moscow when vape cartridges containing cannabis oil were found in her luggage. She had come to Russia to play club basketball during the US off-season.