5:59 v originále: The case of Brittney Griner. Prisoner swap in the making?

An international court drama is unfolding in Moscow. A US star basketball player Brittney Griner, who plays in Russia in the offseason, is facing a drug charge. Pressure is piling on the US government to bring her home. What are the chances of that happening any time soon, considering the poor state of relations between Washington and Moscow?

The two-time olympic gold medal winner who plays for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) at home and UMMC Ekaterinburg in the Russian Premier League was arrested in February - a week before Russia's invasion of Ukraine - at Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport. The authorities said she was carrying cannabis vape cartridges in her luggage. Griner pleaded guilty at the second hearing of her trial but denied she had broken the law intentionally.

„It (the admission of guilt) is a significant preliminary move that could pave the way for a reduced sentence or a potential prisoner swap,“ says Carl Schreck, investigative journalist and editor of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. „In the nearly 25 years that I've been covering Russia there's never been a case like this involving a celebrity of this status, a real giant in her sport. So it's truly unprecedented and it will be interesting to see what Russia is going to try to get out of the United States.“

It has been suggested that Russia is seeking release of Viktor Bout, a notorious arms trafficker - and the basis for the Nicolas Cage character in the 2005 movie Lord of War - who was arrested in Thailand in 2008 and subsequently extradited to the United States and convicted in 2011. Though the disparity in the seriousness of the crimes Bout was convicted of and the one Griner is accused of is glaring, it does not preclude the deal, quite the opposite, the seasoned Russia and US foreign policy watcher believes.

„It would probably mean nothing to a majority of Americans if he (Bout) were sent back to Russia. But bringing Brittney Griner home would be seen as a win for the Biden administration,“ says Schreck who points out that the pressure on the US government to act on behalf of the player and try to secure a potential deal that would see her freed has been noticeably growing over the last couple of weeks.

While the current break-up of relations between Washington and Moscow over Russia's invasion of Ukraine could seem to make such a deal all but impossible, it is not necessarily the case as evidenced by the release of a US Marine veteran Trevor Reed from Russian prison in April in exchange for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a pilot convicted and imprisoned in the United States for drug trafficking.

What is known about the conditions in which Brittney Griner finds herself in Russian detention? What is the official stand of the United States regarding her predicament? And what are the risks involved in negotiating a possible deal that could see her released? Listen to the whole interview via the audioplayer which you can find at the top of the article.