VOA新闻杂志2022 美国篮球明星布里特尼·格林纳获释（在线收听）

The American basketball star and Olympic champion Brittney Griner is being released from prison. She had been held in Russia for almost 10 months.

美国篮球明星、奥运冠军布里特尼·格林纳即将出狱。她在俄罗斯被关押了近10个月。

The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden said Thursday that Griner was on an airplane back to the U.S. She was arrested in February.

美国拜登政府周四表示，格里纳正在回国的飞机上。她于今年2月被捕。

Russian officials said they found two small containers of marijuana oil in her bags as she arrived at the airport in Moscow.

俄罗斯官员表示，当格里纳抵达莫斯科机场时，他们在她的包里发现了两小罐大麻油。

She pleaded guilty to the charge in July and then faced trial. Griner said she mistakenly packed the objects in a rush to get to the airport. In August, she was sentenced to a prison term of nine years.

她于7月承认指控，随后面临审判。格里纳表示，她是在赶着去机场时误带了这些物品。8月，她被判处9年监禁。

After months of negotiations between Russian and American officials, Griner was released in a prisoner swap. Russian weapons seller Viktor Bout is being sent home. Bout was serving a sentence of 25 years.

经过俄罗斯和美国官员数月的谈判，格里纳以换囚的方式得到释放。俄罗斯军火商维克托·布克被遣送回国。布克正在服25年的刑期。

American officials said they had been hoping to also gain the release of businessman Paul Whelan. He was charged with spying in December 2018 and given a 16-year sentence in 2020.

美国官员表示，他们一直希望也能释放商人保罗·惠兰。他于2018年12月被指控从事间谍活动，并于2020年被判处16年监禁。

In announcing the release of Griner, Biden spoke about Whelan. He said: "we've not forgotten about Paul Whelan...We will keep negotiating in good faith for Paul's release."

拜登在宣布格里纳获释时谈到了惠兰。他说：“我们没有忘记保罗·惠兰，我们将继续诚意谈判争取释放保罗。”

Whelan's brother, David, said the U.S. made the right choice to bring Griner home instead of waiting for a trade "that wasn't going to happen."

惠兰的兄弟大卫表示，美国做出了正确的选择，将格里纳带回美国，而不是等待一场无望的交易。

Officials said the prisoner exchange happened in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates.

官员表示，这次换囚在阿联酋的阿布扎比进行。

Griner was arrested on February 17, but the news did not come out until March. Russia invaded Ukraine in late February.

格里纳于2月17日被捕，但是这一消息直到3月才公布。俄罗斯于2月下旬入侵了乌克兰。

Griner traveled to Russia to play basketball for her team, UMMC Ekaterinburg. The fact that Griner, one of the top players in the American basketball league for women – the WNBA - had to play games in Russia had many people asking why the league does not pay its players more.

格里纳前往俄罗斯为叶卡捷琳堡队效力。格里纳是美国女子篮球联盟的顶级球员之一，她也不得不去俄罗斯打比赛，这种现实很多人质疑为什么联盟不给球员更高薪水。

She is also married to a woman, which made many pay attention to how Russia treats Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Queer people.

格里纳还跟一位女性结了婚，这让很多人关注俄罗斯如何对待女同性恋、男同性恋、双性恋、跨性别及同性爱人。

Lawyers said the nine-year prison term was too much for the offense of bringing a small amount of marijuana oil into Russia. At her sentencing, Griner said she was sorry, and she hoped the ruling "does not end my life."

律师表示，对于将少量大麻油带入俄罗斯的犯罪行为来说，判9年太重了。格里纳在宣判时表示，她很抱歉，她还希望不会被判死刑。

The negotiations related to Griner, however, led to the highest-level communication between Russia and the U.S. in over five months.

然而，与格里纳有关的谈判最终导致了俄罗斯与美国5个多月来最高级别的沟通。

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke about Griner's case.

美国国务卿安东尼·布林肯和俄罗斯外长谢尔盖·拉夫罗夫谈到了格里纳的案件。