MOSCOW, July 1. /TASS/. The arrest of American basketball player and Olympic champion Brittney Griner cannot be politically motivated since Russian law prohibits drug smuggling, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Friday.
"It (the arrest - TASS) cannot be politically motivated," the Kremlin official said.
"Facts are that a famous athlete was apprehended with forbidden compounds that contained narcotic substances. Russian legislation indeed has provisions that stipulate punishment for such crimes. Yet this is only a statement of what she has been detained with and what’s in our legislation," the spokesman noted.
That said, Putin’s press secretary did not comment on the Khimki Court hearing this case. "I cannot comment on the actions of a Russian court. We do not have the right to do so, we never do this. I can only state the facts," he said. "Only the court can do something in terms of handing down any verdicts," the spokesman concluded.
On July 1, the hearings began of the case of US basketball player Brittney Griner who was accused of drug smuggling. Currently, she is under arrest until December 20 by a court’s decision for an attempt to illegally bring cannabis oil into the country via Sheremetyevo Airport.
She is a two-time World Champion and a two-time Olympic Champion. Before the arrest, she played for Yekaterinburg’s UMMC.