"Ridiculous and sad, hope there is a better solution in the near future" - Martina Navratilova on WNBA star Brittney Griner's 9 year prison sentence in Russia
Tennis legend Martina Navratilova expressed her disappointment after WNBA star Brittney Griner was sentenced to nine years of imprisonment in Russia on account of drug charges. The court found the defendant guilty of smuggling and possessing "a significant amount of narcotics," judge Anna Sotnikova told a court in the town of Khimki just outside Moscow.
After Griner's sentencing became public, Navratilova took to Twitter to share her thoughts. Calling the ruling "ridiculous" and "sad," the 18-time Grand Slam champion hoped the authorities could negotiate a better solution in the coming days.
"Omg- this is just ridiculous and sad, needless to say. I hope there is a better solution/ outcome in the near future…" she wrote on Twitter while quoting a Washington Post article.
Omg- this is just ridiculous and sad, needless to say. I hope there is a better solution/ outcome in the near future… twitter.com/DianeE_NJ/stat…
The 65-year-old also recently criticized former American president Donald Trump over the same issue. Current US president Joe Biden had proposed a swap deal for WNBA star Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan, another jailed American, in exchange for the infamous Russian arms dealer, Viktor Bout.
However, Trump was not impressed with it and recorded his disapproval of the deal. Speaking on "The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show," Trump had commented that it did not make sense to let an "absolute killer" and one of the biggest arms dealers in the world go free in favor of someone who knowingly went into a country that was very vigilant about drugs.
"She went in there loaded up with drugs into a hostile territory where they're very vigilant about drugs. They don't like drugs," Trump said. "And she got caught. And now we're supposed to get her out – and she makes, you know, a lot of money, I guess – and we're supposed to get her out for an absolute killer and one of the biggest arms dealers in the world."
Navratilova, therefore, took to Twitter to call out Trump, saying that the only reason he did not want Griner out of prison was because she was a black lesbian.
But if course- a black lesbian- what else would he possibly say? Plus, #TFG always sides with Russia, not America twitter.com/RollingStone/s…
Martina Navratilova has been vocal about social issues
The 18-time Major winner is really active on social media as an activist. Martina Navratilova has been vocal about political and social issues around the globe and is one of the most significant voices to stand with Ukraine in its recent conflict with Russia.
She also took the stand for the Black Lives Matter movement in the US in the past, and most recently, Navratilova weighed in on the US Supreme Court's anti-abortion ruling, remarking that it reminded her of being in a "totalitarian country."
"I feel like I am back in a totalitarian country where I grew up- Czech Republic, now a thriving democracy- and I am feeling disoriented," Martina Navratilova wrote. "After Soviet Union fell and Czechoslovakia and all Soviet bloc countries were freed I thought what a world we can now have. And now?"