This week, I wanted to cover an adversary as opposed to allied, flourishing democracies around the world. The Moscow Times is a Russian based media company that covered the Brittney Griner case this week. As y'all may know, Brittney Griner is an American WNBA player that was detained in Russia after bringing a THC vape cartridge into the country. She has since been sentenced to 9 years in a Russian prison for her charge, and American media has since labeled her a political pawn for the current Russian-Ukraine war. The article starts by explaining her appeal to the court has been denied and the sentence will be upheld. Communication between the White House and the Kremlin have involved negotiations of a prisoner swap, but all have been unsuccessful so far. The article also outlines the frustrated expressions of American National Security Advisor, calling the charges a "sham judicial procedure."
As current events are still being played out, it is difficult to fully understand the motivations of this framing given the context we have. Marijuana is illegal in Russia even if it is for medicinal purposes, so it is not apparent to me that Russia is using Griner as a political pawn. In fact, until recently we had many people locked up in American federal prisons with similar sentences. The American media hardly addresses this issue when talking about Griner, and instead insists that the only motivation for locking her up is the American involvement in the Ukrainian war. They are also comparing this to the
Otto Warmbier case in North Korea, it that doesn't seem like an identical or accurate comparison.
However, it seems like the article is specifically focusing on how the American government is frustrated. America around the world is often seen as a "free-for-all" nation with a heavy promotion of individualism and personal freedom. Marijuana is highly unpopular in Russia thanks to propaganda efforts, so America frustrations to the sentencing can be seen as lawless and reckless in the eyes of the Russian people. Even if Brittney was not originally utilized as a political pawn, Russian media seems to be taking advantage of the situation for political gain. This tends to be the case when issues become politicized because if they are politicized on one side, they'll likely become politicized on the other
Signing off,
Jake Hughes
Hey Jake!
ReplyDeleteI agree, it does not sound like the same case as Otto Warmbier's, other than the fact that they both were American's detained in other countries. My issue with this case is that Brittney Griner brought an illegal substance into a country with strict laws. Point blank, she shouldn't have done it. She committed a crime in the country she was visiting, and they are punishing her as their country sees fit. Do I agree that 9 years is an appropriate punishment? Absolutely not. I don't live there though, and I think everyone knows if you are going to visit a different country, ESPECIALLY a country that is known for their stringent laws and harsh punishments, maybe be a little more cautious. I don't think this was originally a political move, though I could definitely see that Russia is using it to their advantage especially considering their war with Ukraine. I was originally surprised at the outrage that her situation received, and continued to receive, because she committed a crime. I think this goes back to how Americans really have a centered view of ourselves, so the fact that the rest of the world doesn't operate in the same way we does makes it hard for us to accept. Great post!
Hey Jake, great article/analysis. I heard about this situation a while ago and forgot that it happened / was a ongoing case or "investigation." I would say that is a fair call to say that she is unfortunately being used as a political pawn during the Russian and Ukraine war but that should not dismiss the crime she had committed. Just has Brittany noted above, bottom line was that she took an illegal substance into a foreign country that is known for the strict rules on illegal substances through propaganda. I don't know these international situations totally work but I hope she is able to get out of jail soon or that her sentence is severely shortened. Hopefully some more information will come out about this soon. Thanks for the post.
ReplyDeleteHi Jake! I like your point that it doesn't seem all that reasonable that Brittney Griner was arrested only for political reasons. It very much could be the case that American media outlets framed it that way to perpetuate the hate of Russia following the war in Ukraine. I'd be interested to see the average sentence for a Russian native possessing marijuana. Nine years does seem excessive. I also don't know that I agree this case isn't similar to Otto Warmbier. Both his action and Brittney's are extremely minor in the grand scheme. A stolen sign and a THC vape pen aren't heinous crimes and yet they were given harsh sentences. The biggest reason for why I don't feel we can rule out the comparison is because we don't know how Brittney is being treated in prison. With tensions high between the US and Russia, I worry for her. Time will tell.
ReplyDeleteHey jake, I remember hearing about this in the news and wondered how something like this could happen and it felt like America had such a huge part in it. People were saying it was insane how the President wasn't doing more in order to bring her back to the states, but what she did was commit a crime in another country where it was illegal. At that point I believe there is only so much a country or the people in it can do to help, especially when this was at the very beginning of the war on Ukraine. While these crimes weren't very large in scale and in comparison to the others that would cause this type of reaction, I believe that time will be the tell tale of this situation. Great insight on this issue!
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