Brittney Griner’s detention in Moscow has been extended and she will stay in the Russian city for at least two more months, Russia’s state news agency reports.
According to TASS, the agency, a Khimkinsky court granted investigators’ request to extend Griner’s detention on Thursday (March 17). She will now remain under arrest in the country until May 19.
“The court granted the request of the investigation and extended the period of detention of the U.S. citizen Griner until May 19,” the court ruled, according to TASS.
As reported by REVOLT, Griner was arrested by Russian Federal Customs Service agents at an airport near Moscow last month after vape cartridges containing “liquid with hashish oil” were found in her luggage. The 31-year-old WNBA star is being held on drug charges, which could pose a prison sentence of five to 10 years.
According to the Public Monitoring Commission, a human rights organization that has access to Russian prisons, Griner has been sharing a cell with two other women with no previous convictions at a detention center located in Khimki City — around 14 miles northwest of Moscow.
TASS spoke to a member of the group, Ekaterina Kalugina, who said Griner has not made any official complaints about the conditions at the facility.
“The only objective problem was the height of the basketball player—203 centimeters,” Kalugina said, referring to Griner’s 6’7″ stature. “The beds in the cell are clearly designed for a shorter person.”
Earlier this month, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a joint press conference with Moldova President Maia Sandu and said the Biden administration had assigned a U.S. embassy team to focus on the Olympic gold medalist’s case.
“There’s only so much I can say given the privacy considerations at this point,” he said at the time. “Whenever an American is detained anywhere in the world, we, of course, stand ready to provide every possible assistance, and that includes in Russia.”