In a handwritten note posted on Instagram, WNBA star Brittney Griner thanked supporters for writing to her while she was imprisoned in Russia and urged them to do the same for Paul Whelan, an American who remains incarcerated in the country.
Griner, who was released from custody after U.S. and Russian officials agreed to a prisoner swap earlier this month, said Wednesday that the letters she received during her 10-month detention helped her remain optimistic during the ordeal.
“Your letters helped me keep hope at a time when I was full of regrets and vulnerable in ways I could never have imagined. A thousand thanks. Because of you, I never lost hope,” she wrote.
“Your letters were even greater than they lifted me up,” she continued. “They showed me the power of collective hands. Together we can do difficult things. I am living proof of that. My family is complete and now, thanks to you, we are lucky enough to be able to spend the holidays together. However, too many families are left with their loved ones unjustly detained.”
Griner then asked fans to support Whelan, who has been in captivity in Russia for four years on espionage charges. He included a mailing address that his family provided.
“I hope you will join me in writing to Paul Whelan and continue to advocate for more Americans to be rescued and returned to their families,” he wrote of the former Marine, who began a 16-year sentence in 2020.
Griner’s incarceration and release have renewed interest in Whelan’s case, which President Joe Biden says remains a priority despite the Kremlin’s refusal to negotiate his release. Russian espionage charges, which Whelan says are false, have made him a top prisoner for the government, while Griner was only arrested for entering the country with vapor cartridges containing less than 1 gram of hash oil.
But the differences between the two cases haven’t stopped Republicans from accusing the White House of prioritizing Griner over Whelan and suggesting that Griner, who is black, was less worthy of release because of her protests against racism and of police brutality.
Among them is former President Donald Trump, who dismissed the newly freed Griner as “a basketball player who openly hates our country” and called the prisoner swap an “unpatriotic disgrace.” He also criticized the Biden administration for failing to secure Whelan’s release, even though Trump has remained silent on the prisoner’s plight throughout his presidency.
Whelan and her family, however, acknowledged why her case is more complicated. In a statement upon Griner’s release, his family applauded Biden for making “the deal that was possible rather than waiting for one that wasn’t going to happen.”
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