U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner pleaded guilty to drug possession and smuggling charges in a Russian court in the latest hearing in her prosecution, a case that has sparked back-and-forth sniping by American and Russian officials.
Griner, 31, faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted of the charges.
She was arrested earlier this year after Russian authorities said they found cannabis oil in vape cartridges in her luggage when she passed through Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport. She was returning to play for a Russian team in the off-season of the U.S. Women's National Basketball Association.
Griner was escorted into the Khimki City Court courtroom on July 7 dressed in a red T-shirt and matching sweatpants and handcuffed.
"I'd like to plead guilty, your honor. But there was no intent. I didn't want to break the law," Griner said, speaking English, which was then translated into Russian. "I was in a rush packing. And the cartridges accidentally ended up in my bag." She added that she would like to give her full testimony later.
The next court hearing was scheduled for 14 July.
Her lawyer, Alexander Boykov, called for "as soft a sentence as possible."
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that U.S. Embassy officials attended Griner's trial and delivered to her a letter from President Joe Biden.
"We will not relent until Brittney, Paul Whelan, and all other wrongfully detained Americans are reunited with their loved ones," Blinken tweeted.
The players union said in a statement on July 7 that it stood with Griner.
“With a 99% conviction rate, Russia’s process is its own. You can’t navigate it or even understand it like our own legal system,” said Terri Jackson, the union's executive director. “What we do know is that the U.S. State Department determined that Brittney Griner was wrongfully detained for a reason and we’ll leave it at that.”
Griner's case has drawn increasing public attention and involvement by top U.S. officials, who say she has been wrongfully detained.
A day earlier, the White House released a statement saying President Joe Biden had called Griner's wife, Cherelle, promising he was working to free her and one other American.
Whelan, the other U.S. citizen whose detention has drawn vocal U.S. protests, is a former U.S. marine and private-security consultant who was detained in December 2018, accused of espionage.
He was sentenced to 16 years in prison in June 2020.
Russia has repeatedly signaled its interest in exchanging detained U.S. citizens for Russians held in U.S. prisons.
In late April, Moscow released another former U.S. marine, Trevor Reed, in exchange for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot who had been jailed on drug-trafficking charges in the United States.
Earlier on July 7, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov complained that the "hype" around Griner's case does not help.
"Attempts by the American side to make noise in public...don’t help in the practical settlement of issues," he was quoted as saying.