Leave politics for later. Brittany Griner is coming home and it's time to celebrate.
A week ago, he seemed bound by history, autocracy and war. Now he is free. Thank God for this.
The fate of the Wild Man was in his hands. Vladimir Putin is the justice system in Russia, and Griner can only walk freely if he has the motivation to release him.
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We don't know why he supported the Russian dictator for years: surely it was because American prices were so high? Was it supposed to be a 1 for 1 exchange of prisoners, and not 1 for 2, as the Americans ask?
© Alexander Zemlyanchenko WNBA star and two-time Olympian Brittany Griner watches the bars from her cage ahead of her trial on Wednesday, July 27, 2022, in Khimki, outside Moscow.
There is probably more to this story. And we will not know the fullness for many years.
A terrible fate awaited the athlete "Phoenix"
Considering the controversy and the grim fate Griner faced, it's almost a miracle. Thirty years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, he escaped from the Russian Gulag, which still exists today.
She is being held in IK-2, Russia's most dangerous women's prison in Mordovia, about 300 miles east of Moscow, said former Russian prisoner Nadya Tolokonnikova, a member of the Pussy Riot protest group. In Russian prisons they say: "I never served a sentence in Mordovia, never."
It is a prison known for cruelty and torture, slave labor, dirt and rotten food.
'This is our sister': WNBA players vow to keep Brittany Griner in the spotlight
No one deserves such treatment, and Griner, who does not care about the Russian people and country, was simply a supporter of the Kremlin. He was the leader of a government that took hostages worse than invading neighboring countries and massacring civilians.
The evil of this government, what it can do under Vladimir Putin, and indifference to human suffering show how lucky we are to have a home for Brittany Griner.
Griner never aspired to fame or fame.
Griner is a world-class athlete who has won Olympic gold, an NCAA championship, and a WNBA title with the Phoenix Mercury. But he is a modest man who grew up in difficult circumstances. Her father kicked her out of the house for being a lesbian, but reconciled with her.
Her agent told The New Yorker that she was not used to enjoying fame or notoriety.
"Brittany Griner doesn't want to be famous," says Lindsey Colas. "He wants to skateboard down the ice cream street at night."
I think he will be a very strong defender of the Americans who are now in Russian prisons. Why? Because he did not forget them in his relationship with the house.
Some Americans do not want to forgive him for protesting against the flag and the national anthem and believe that he deserved his fate for violating Russian law.
This is a misunderstanding of how selective Russian law is. Vladimir Putin could have met him any time during the decade he started playing professional basketball in Russia.
Soldiers kill Ukrainian men and women without trial or investigation. His thugs kill Russian journalists and opponents. No excuse is needed to hold an American hostage.
Take a moment and enjoy the good news.
A week before the Russians invaded Ukraine, Griner was arrested for possession of a small amount of marijuana. There were big scams at work.
We can discuss your release policy and pricing later. For now, let's enjoy the moment.
Brittany Griner is American. He is Phoenician. She is our sister. He's free.
And God is good.
Phil Boas is a columnist for the Arizona Republic. Email him at phil.boas@arizonarepublic.com.
This article was originally published in The Republic of Arizona: Enjoy the Miracle by Brittany Griner. Politics may come later.