“We have to use every legal avenue at our disposal, and appeal is one of those avenues,” Griner’s lawyer, Maria Blagovolina, told the News.
Now that WNBA star Brittney Greener has been convicted in a drug smuggling case and a Russian court sentenced him to 9 years in prison on Thursday, his lawyers are awaiting an appeal and a possible prison swap.
“We are very disappointed and deeply disappointed by this ruling,” Maria Blagovolina. Partner at Rybalkin Gortsunyan Dyakin and Partners, told PEOPLE just hours after the verdict. “The punishment according to this article of the Criminal Court is generally not so severe. They are usually around five and a half or six years old. So nine years, that’s very unusual and against the existing case law in Russia.”
“So we are very disappointed and surprised by this court decision,” he added.
Blagovolina and another Griner’s legal team member, Alexander Boykov of the Moscow Law Center. Said they intend to appeal the ruling and must do so within ten days. Although they don’t know if it makes a difference, Blagovolina thinks they should try it.
“We have to use every legal avenue at our disposal, and appeal is one of those avenues,” he said. However, the appeal will be before a different judge and court, and Blagovolina and Boykov said they needed to review the entire verdict before working on their strategy.
The process will also take several months, Boykov said. “It’s not very fast.”
Possible exchange
The ruling also focuses further on a potential prisoner swap recently offered by the US government to Russia. Last Wednesday, a Biden administration official confirmed to PEOPLE that the Biden administration “weeks ago made a substantial offer to bring back [other Americans detained in Russia] Brittney Griner and Paul Whalen.”
According to CNN, the US has offered to trade Greener and Whelan, 31, for convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. The outlet said Russian officials had also asked the US to include convicted killer and former Russian spy Vadim Krasikov in the package.