he s an internet sensation in bangladesh for singing out of tune, but we ll find out why this crooner failed to strike a chord with the police. we start in the united states with the case of us basketball player, brittney griner, who has been sentenced to nine years injail by a court in russia. the court found her guilty of possessing and smuggling drugs. president biden said washington would use all means possible to guarantee her release, and added that her sentencing is unacceptable. the two time olympic gold medallist admitted to possessing cannabis oil when she was detained in february. here s our russia editor steve rosenberg. in court today brittney griner said she made an honest mistake when she brought vape cartridges with cannabis oil into russia. she made a plea for leniency and that fell on deaf years and the judge found her guilty and sentenced her to nine years in a russian prison. her defence team says it will appeal. president biden said the sentence was un
viktor bout, who was sentenced to 25 years in an american jail one decade ago. now there is no doubt that there would be a degree of controversy over such a swap because victor was alleged to be one of the most prolific arms dealers in the world and was dubbed the merchant of death. so it would be a controversial swap. he was rumoured to have links to russian intelligence agencies and he has denied that in the past but this is someone the kremlin has long wanted to bring back to russia and if it manages to bring him back there is no doubt the authorities here would present that is a major victory. i m joined now by brian freskos, a senior researcher at the conflict awareness project. steve was outlining their about what this prisoner swap might be about if indeed it goes ahead. what do you think about that? ~ ., . ., ,