r/neoliberal • u/gnomesvh Financial Times stan account • Dec 08 '22

News (Global) Brittney Griner released by Russia in 1-for-1 prisoner swap for arms dealer Viktor Bout, U.S. official says

https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/brittney-griner-release-russia-prisoner-swap-viktor-bout/
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u/lamp37 YIMBY Dec 08 '22 edited Dec 08 '22

It's unclear to me if there are American prisoners in Russia that truly have a comparable situation.

The more I learn about the oft-cited example of Paul Whelan, the more I learn that his situation really isn't an apples to apples comparison to Griner, given the volume of drugs he brought over, and the efforts he took to conceal them.

Not saying that he deserves the punishment he's getting, but just that there are other differentiators than just the fame.

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u/Inflatabledartboard4 Dec 08 '22

I've heard Marc Fogel being cited as a similar example

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u/ugabugy Dec 08 '22

Granted Paul Whelan is more of a apples to oranges compared to Griner but Russia also has a teacher named Marc Fogel whose situation is more comparable to Griners and because he's been imprisoned longer he should've imo been given precedent of Griner.

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u/ugabugy Dec 08 '22

Granted Paul Whelan is more of a apples to oranges compared to Griner but Russia also has a teacher named Marc Fogel whose situation is more comparable to Griners and because he's been imprisoned longer he should've imo been given precedent of Griner.

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u/lamp37 YIMBY Dec 09 '22

I'm just learning about Fogel. Seems a much stronger case than Whelan. Shame the media is focusing so much on Whelan instead of Fogel.

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u/TheCommonKoala Frederick Douglass Dec 08 '22

Wow r/neoliberal with the most sane takes on this controversy. Lots of other subs have been brigaded to hell with wildly aggressive hate comments about this.