American basketball star Brittney Griner had her appeal rejected by a Russian court on Tuesday, with a three-judge panel ruling her nine year conviction on drugs charges is “fair.”

The WNBA player, who is also an Olympian, was convicted of having 0.702 grams cannabis oil in her luggage at the Moscow airport and sentenced to nine years in a Russian penal colony  in August.   

The Biden administration and Griner’s lawyers consider it a disproportionate and unfair sentence.The White House is expected to continue negotiations, as Kremlin officials say a deal is premature until the judicial process is complete.  

U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan called the ruling “another sham judicial proceeding.”

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