グライナー選手解放はバイデン氏の「優先事項」　米政府発表

【ワシントンＡＦＰ＝時事】バスケットボールの米女子プロリーグ（ＷＮＢＡ）のブリトニー・グライナー選手（３１）が、薬物を所持していたとしてロシアで逮捕された件で、米ホワイトハウスの報道官は５日、同選手の解放をジョー・バイデン米大統領も「優先事項」と考えていると話した。（写真はロシアの首都モスクワ郊外ヒムキの裁判所に入る米女子プロバスケットボール（ＷＮＢＡ）のブリトニー・グライナー選手）
　五輪米代表として、金メダル２個を獲得しているグライナー選手は、大麻オイルをロシアへ不法に持ち込んだ疑いで２月に逮捕され、１日から始まった裁判では最長で禁錮刑１０年を科される可能性もある。
　４日には、グライナー選手からバイデン大統領に宛てられた、手書きの書簡の一部を家族が公開し、その中でグライナー選手は、解放を勝ち取るために「できる限りのこと」をしてほしいと大統領に懇願している。
　カリーヌ・ジャンピエール大統領報道官は５日の定例会見で「大統領は確かに手紙を読んだ」と発表。詳しいことは語らず、「この件は大統領にとっての優先事項だ」と短く言及した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/07/06-13:48）

US President Joe Biden has read a letter from Brittney Griner, the women's basketball star who has been detained in Russia since February, and freeing her is a priority, the White House said Tuesday.
Griner's family had on Monday released portions of her handwritten letter to Biden, in which the WNBA star implores the president to do all you can to win her release.
Her trial for charges of smuggling cannabis vape cartridges into Russia began last Friday, and the two-time Olympic champion faces up to 10 years in prison.
As I sit here in a Russian prison, alone with my thoughts and without the protection of my wife, family, friends, Olympic jersey, or any accomplishments, I'm terrified I might be here forever, Griner wrote.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday that the president did read the letter.
This is an issue that is a priority for this president, she stated simply at her daily press briefing, without adding further details.
Griner was detained in the days before Russia began its full-on assault on Ukraine, after which the United States and its allies imposed unprecedented economic sanctions on Moscow.
Her case has become one of many sticking points in historically low relations between the United States and Russia, with Washington saying the 31-year-old Griner has been wrongfully detained and putting its special envoy in charge of hostages on the case.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has had a couple of opportunities in recent days and recent weeks to speak to the basketball star's wife Cherrelle Griner, and the State Department has been in almost daily contact with her representatives, State Department spokesman Ned Price said Tuesday.
We want to see Americans released. We want to see this practice banished, whether it is in the case of Russia or any other country, that engages in the practice of wrongfully -- unjustly -- detaining Americans or third-country nationals for political benefit, Price told reporters.
Asked about criticism of the US government's response by Griner's family and teammates, Price said that we are doing everything we can to place their loved one in the most advantageous position to be released.
We certainly understand the inclination on the part of families to bring as much publicity as they can to their cases, he added.
After their match on Monday night, Griner's teammates on the Phoenix Mercury called for more prominent and consistent media coverage of her case.
There's not enough outcry, said forward Brianna Turner.
If it were LeBron James or Tom Brady, this would be news that would be in the headlines every day, added guard Sophie Cunningham.