*After being imprisoned for almost a year, Brittney Griner was finally released from a Russian penal colony following the intense campaign to bring her back home. As her fans, family and friends celebrated Griner’s release, her agent, Lindsay Colas, turned attention to other Americans detained in various prisons across the globe.
“As patriots, our obligation is to use all available tools to end the needless suffering of Americans and their families,” Colas wrote in a statement.
Colas, who is executive vice president at sports marketing company Wasserman, also thanked the Biden administration for sticking to its commitment to rescue Griner from Russia.
“It’s through hardship that character is revealed, and over the last nine months, we have seen the best of so many,” Colas added in the statement. “At the top of that list are BG and President Biden. Throughout this ordeal, BG has carried herself with courage, grace and grit; and President Biden made us a promise, and then kept his word and did what was necessary to bring her home.”
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Brittney Griner (Evgenia Novozhenina-Pool-Getty Images)
Colas added that the “We Are BG” coalition will not relent in its efforts to help families reunite with their relatives who are detained overseas, including Paul Whelan, a former Marine being held in Russia after being arrested in 2018. He was accused of spying.
He committed the coalition will fight for the release of the other 12 Americans, namely: Emad Shargi, Siamak Namazi, Morad Tahbaz, and Shahab Dalili in Iran; Luke Denman, Airan Berry, and Eyvin Hernandez in Venezuela; Kai Li and Mark Swidan in China; Majd Kamalmaz in Syria; Jeffery Woodke in Mali; and Paul Rusesabagina in Rwanda.
“In return, our commitment to President Biden and to the families of Americans who are being held hostage and wrongfully detained – especially Elizabeth and David Whelan, on behalf of their brother Paul Whelan, who remains in Russia and whose continued detention weighs heavily on our hearts – is to continue our work in the movement to bring them home,” Colas added.
“Our eyes have been opened through this process to your struggle and as we have always done, BG and our coalition of activist athletes will ensure that silence is no longer an option,” Cola added, referring to the other 12 still locked. “Your stories will be told, your loved ones’ names will be known, and you will be reunited, because bringing our people home is a moral issue that matters to this Administration.”
Bout Griner Whelan (AP, Getty Images)
Griner, a WNBA player, had been in detention in Russia since February after she was arrested at a Moscow airport after vape cartridges of hashish oil were found in her luggage.
The news about her return was first reported by President Biden following a prisoner swap deal with Russia. In the deal, Griner was swapped with Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer also known as “Merchant of Death.” Bout was jailed in the US.
Griner’s wife, Cherelle Griner, also said she is committed to bringing home other Americans held in Russia and around the world. She spoke at the White House during the announcement that her husband was coming home from detention.
“Today my family is whole, but as you all are aware, there are so many other families that are not whole,” Cherelle pointed out.
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