American basketball star Brittney Griner appeared in a Moscow-area court for trial Friday, about 4 1/2 months after she was arrested on cannabis possession charges at an airport.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Friday denied politics played a role in Griner's detention and prosecution.
Griner's supporters have kept a low profile in hopes of a quiet resolution, until May, when the State Department reclassified her as wrongfully detained and shifted oversight of her case to its special presidential envoy for hostage affairs -- effectively the U.S. government's chief negotiator. Russian news media have repeatedly raised speculation that she could be swapped for Russian arms trader Viktor Bout, nicknamed"the Merchant of Death," who is serving a 25-year sentence on conviction of conspiracy to kill U.S. citizens and providing aid to a terrorist organization.
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