I agree. Marc Fogel needs more people advocating for his release
Has anyone replied to this?
Probably not much to say - it’s just another example of Russian inconsistency in applying the law. Audrey Lorber got off very easy. Under Russian law that 19 grams was a serious criminal offense in 2019, carrying a potential sentence of up to 1-3 years I believe. Russian officials absolutely did the right and humane thing in her case by letting her off with just a modest fine. Either they just didn’t feel they needed a pawn at that point in time or for some reason felt she’d make a poor one. Or they were being truly compassionate because of her age, who knows (though I’m a little cynical on that one). It’s probably a good indication that they never really gave much of a shit about Viktor Bout per se. It has all been about gamesmanship with the US.
But Griner carrying wasn’t so lucky when the political situation became stickier.
It does make me wonder that if it were a white teenager being exchanged for Bout if the backlash against the administration would have been as polarized.
I’m not familiar with the EuroLeague Women’s, but it looks like the regular season is Oct-Apr? With pre-season in Sep?
I had assumed she was arrested going into Russia for the winter season, but she must have been playing for Ekaterinburg for 4-5 months by the time of her arrest.
I can better see the perspective of trying to ride out the rest of the season, hoping war won’t start before then.
Russian Premier League kicks off in March and runs until the end of April. Then WNBA starts in May and runs until September. THEN Euroleague play starts in October. Not a lot of time to catch a breath for active WNBA players participating - it’s basketball more or less year-round.
Cold War shades of Francis Gary Powers and Rudolf Abel walking past each other on Berlin’s Glienecke Bridge. All it needs is mist in the night.
I agree. The US should stand by it’s citizens no matter which country it is, based on the laws in the US. What I mean by that is, say a rapist or serial killer was arrested by another country. The US probably wouldn’t care too much about that person. But maybe they would to seek justice for the victims. This is an extreme case scenario and most likely other countries would extradite this type of criminal back to the US immediately. Why, because they would gain nothing politically by holding such a person. Except in such extreme circumstances the US needs to stand by it’s citizens in all foreign countries no matter what the crime. Thousands have given their lives for the freedoms we enjoy in the US. One of the privileges granted us is the right to a fair and speedy trial with judgement coming from our peers, not foreign countries seeking political clout. It’s obvious to me that Russia chose who they would arrest based upon how much clout they anticipated of getting. It shouldn’t be this way, all Americans should yield the same response from our government, we want them returned. My question is, should we continue allowing our citizens to travel to Russia, knowing they may be arrested for political clout?
I want to rephrase my statement one of the privileges granted us. It should read, one of the privileges that many gave their lives for!
Welcome to Straight Dope, DST!
I don’t know how long there was between your two posts, but there is a few minute interval when you can edit your post.
Thanks for the helpful information, I would have had plenty of time to edit it.
Because she’s a public figure in a way, and politics are involved. Me or you get caught w/ weed over there, just see what happens to us.
She’s got a new book coming out May 7 “Coming Home” about her experiences in a Russian prison. There is an excerpt in Time Magazine:
There is also a recent ABC 20/20 interview, but it is only available to those with a cable TV plan or Hulu: