Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan in exchange for Viktor Bout: The prisoner exchange between the United States and Russia

Recently sources from the Joe Biden administration in the United States informed CNN that was put on the table exchanging Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer, for Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan, two Americans who are being held in Russia.

What is the story behind this exchange? Let’s go by parts…

The exchange between Russia and the United States

Brittney Griner She is an American basketball player and one of the most successful in the women’s professional league. Earlier this year the player traveled to Russia to play during the off-season for the UMMC Ekaterinburg team but in February she specifically was detained at the Sheremetvo airport in Moscow.

Which was the reason? Customs staff found cannabis oil in their bags, oil that is illegal in Russia. This arrest occurred a week before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine for what some experts say he became a “political battle pawn.”

Early July Griner pleaded guilty possession and smuggling of drugs but denied intentionally breaking the law. The sentence for this crime could go up to 10 years in prison.

The issue is that recently at his trial new details were revealed that would suggest that his arrest was made illegally. The defense of the basketball player affirms that at the time his bags were searched there was no lawyer present and that his rights were not explained to him.

In addition to the fact that she was forced to sign documents that she did not understand. The trial against her is still going on.

Paul Whelanmeanwhile, is a former US Marine who He was arrested on December 31, 2018 while in a Moscow hotel getting ready for a friend’s wedding.

18 months after that they found him guilty of espionage and receiving documents containing secret Russian information in a trial that took place behind closed doors. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison in a high security prison.

At the time of his arrest, Russian authorities found a USB flash drive that allegedly contained state secrets. When he was arrested, he was working as director of global security at an automotive technology company in the United States.

Both the United States government and his family and defense they argue that the trial was not transparent and that Whelan is not a spy.

And as we mentioned earlier, the Russian government asked the United States government to join Viktor Bout, among other Russian prisoners, in the exchange of these two Americans.

Viktor Bout, who is also known as the “death merchant”was arrested on March 8, 2008 in Thailand under an Interpol operation.

On April 5, 2012, a federal judge in New York sentenced him to 25 years in prison for trafficking weapons to a FARC terrorist group (Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces).

Bout has always insisted that he is innocent and denounced that his trial is a political operation.

But look here. Everything is based on sources that have not yet made absolutely anything official. In this sense, the spokesman for the Kremlin in Russia, Viktor Bout, explained that at the moment there is no agreement.

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