Oscar winner calls for Brittney Griner’s release in acceptance speech

‘President Biden, bring Brittney Griner home,’ filmmaker Ben Proudfoot told the Academy

An Oscar winner used his acceptance speech to demand freedom for Brittney Griner, the WNBA star imprisoned in Russia.

Ms Griner has been in custody since February, when Russian customs officials claim they found drugs in her luggage at an airport near Moscow. Ben Proudfoot, the filmmaker who won the Academy Award for best short documentary, highlighted her cause on Sunday night.

“If there is anyone out there that still doubts where there’s an audience for female athletes, let this Academy Award be the answer,” Mr Proudfoot said in his speech. “And one last thing: President Biden, bring Brittney Griner home.”

The comment drew cheers from the audience.

Mr Proudfoot’s film, The Queen of Basketball, is a profile on the late Lusia Harris, an Olympic medal-winning basketball player who became the first and – so far – only woman drafted by the NBA.

The pioneering figure had much in common with Ms Griner, 31, who has won two Olympic gold medals herself.

Earlier this month, Russian officials said Ms Griner’s detention will continue until at least 19 May. If she is convicted of the drug charges brought against her, she could face up to ten years in prison.

Last week, the US State Department said an American embassy official had visited the athlete in her jail cell, where she appeared to be unharmed.

“Our official found Brittney Griner to be in good condition and we will continue to do everything we can to see to it that she is treated fairly throughout this ordeal,” State Department spokesman Ned Price told CNN.

Russian authorities allege that when Ms Griner arrived at Sheremetyevo Alexander S Pushkin International Airport last month, customs officials found vape cartridges containing hashish oil in her bags.

But as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the United States’ retaliatory sanctions continue, experts say there could be another motive behind the arrest. Daniel Fried, a former US ambassador to Poland, has said Ms Griner may be “an American hostage.”

“The American embassy and the US government has been aware of the possibility of the Russians using Americans in Moscow as bargaining chips,” Mr Fried told The Washington Post.