From Washington-WNBA star Brittney Griner tried to call his wife nearly 12 times through the US Embassy in Russia on Saturday, the couple’s 4th anniversary, but because the embassy’s telephone line was empty. We couldn’t get in touch, Cherelle Griner said on Monday.
The couple haven’t spoken on the phone for four months after Greener was arrested in Russia on drug-related charges. That should have changed on Saturday, when the long-awaited call was finally to be made. However, the day came and went without any contact, and suffering Cherelle Griner wondered what was wrong and suspected that Russian authorities had blocked the call, at least initially.
On Monday she said she learned a more tragic truth from her wife’s lawyer: Brittney Griner actually tried to make 11 calls in a matter of hours and gave her the number given by the US Embassy in Moscow. I dialed. He was then said to call Phoenix’s Cherelle Griner. However, I couldn’t answer the phone every time because there was clearly no staff at the embassy desk where the phone rang on Saturday.
“I was distraught. I was hurt. I’m done, I’m sick of it,” Cherelle Griner told The Associated Press in an interview about how she spent her eagerly expected anniversaries in tears instead. “I’m sure I sent a text message to the BG agent and it looks like this:’I don’t want to talk to anyone. 1 minute to put together my emotions and tell everyone that it’s not available now. It takes. I just knocked out. I was sick, but I’m still sick. “
“I deeply regret that Brittney Griner couldn’t talk to his wife because of a logistical error,” the State Department said on Monday. With a hostage family and an illegal detainee.
For Cherelle Griner, this experience exacerbated the already boiling frustration of the US government’s response to his wife’s case. U.S. officials have repeatedly stated that they have returned two Olympic athletes from Russia and are working behind the scenes to make her case a top priority. But Cherelle Griner said she was “extremely angry” with her Saturday trials. In particular, her phone was on schedule for two weeks, but no one warned her that it might be logistically impossible because of her weekend.
She added: go back home? That’s a much bigger question than receiving a call on Saturday. “
Cherelle Griner said US government contacts apologized to her for the mistake. She said she has since learned that one number that Brittney Griner was told to dial would handle calls from prisoners from Monday to Friday instead of weekends.
“But be careful, this call was scheduled for almost two weeks on a weekend date,” Cherelle Griner said in an interview.
She added: go back home? That’s a much bigger question than receiving a call on Saturday, “she said.
Cherelle Griner said he still wants to talk to and meet with President Joe Biden, but “at this point it’s starting to feel like no.”
Brittney Griner, a seven-time WNBA All-Star who plays for Phoenix Mercury, was detained at a Russian airport on February 17 after authorities said a search for her bag found an arc cartridge containing hemp oil. rice field.
In May, the State Department designated her as illegally detained and moved her case under the supervision of a special envoy to the hostage affairs, who is effectively responsible for hostage negotiations with the government. Russian state news agency Tass reported last week that her detention was extended until July 3.
Cherelle Griner says he had to rely solely on the evaluation of others for his wife’s condition. Lawyers and consular officials could talk to basketball stars, but her wife did not.
The night before the call, she fell asleep at 5 pm, so she woke up, watched at midnight, and received the expected call from Russia to Phoenix.
“This was a very big moment because it was the first time I really knew if she was okay,” said Cherelle Griner. “In fact, this would be the first time she really heard her voice in real time and really knew if she was okay or if she was a few seconds away from being no longer present.”
