Last month the U.S. State Department reclassified WNBA player Brittney Griner as 'unlawfully detained' after she was arrested at the airport in Moscow for possession of vape pens and cannabis oil cartridges [click here if you missed that].
Russian President Vladimir Putin's top spokesperson denies the accusation...
From NBC
In an exclusive interview with NBC News’ Keir Simmons, the spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, disputed the State Department’s position that Griner is a Russian hostage.
Griner, he said, was no different from “hundreds and hundreds of Russian citizens that were sentenced for carrying hashish.”
“Why should we make an exemption for a foreign citizen?” he added.
Griner, 31, was detained in February after she landed in Moscow; authorities said a search of her bag revealed vape cartridges containing hashish oil, a derivative of cannabis. The offense could carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison in Russia.
