US WNBA basketball superstar Brittney Greener arrives for a court hearing in Khimki, outside Moscow on July 7, 2022.
Kiril Kudryavtsev | AFP | Getty Images
WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden will sign an executive order that will expand the administration’s available tools to deter the hostage-taking and wrongful detention of American citizens.
The executive order, known as “Strengthening Efforts to Return Hostages and Wrongfully Detained United States Citizens Home,” would authorize the imposition of financial penalties and visa bans on people involved in hostage-taking.
“This executive order reflects the administration’s commitment not only to the issues in general, but to families in particular, and is informed by the government’s regular engagement with them,” said a senior Biden administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to to share details about the new executive order.
“The president has been willing to make what he himself has said publicly are tough but important calls when it means bringing Americans home,” the senior administration official said.
The official also said the State Department will introduce a new risk indicator, the letter “D,” on travel advisories to inform Americans of the risk of wrongful detention by a foreign government. The “D” indicator joins the existing “K” indicator, which identifies the risk of hijacking.
The executive order comes as the Biden administration works to free WNBA star Brittney Griner from a Russian prison. Greiner, 31, who plays professional basketball in Russia during the WNBA offseason, was arrested in February at a Russian airport on charges of smuggling hashish oil.
The Biden administration has characterized Greener’s arrest, a dramatic revelation that came as the Kremlin prepares for war in Ukraine, as wrongful detention. She pleaded guilty to drug charges in a Moscow court earlier this month and faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
“I am terrified that I could be here forever,” the Olympian wrote in a letter to Biden, asking him for direct help with her case.
Amid the letter, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris spoke with her wife, Cheryl Greener.
Biden assured her wife that he was working to get Griner released as soon as possible, according to a White House release of the conversation. He also said on the call that he was working to free Paul Whelan, a U.S. Marine serving a 16-year sentence in Russia.
In April, Russia agreed to release former US Marine Trevor Reed in a prisoner swap with the United States.
Reed was accused of assaulting a Russian officer and detained by authorities there in 2019. He was later sentenced to nine years in a Russian prison. Reid and his family maintain that he is innocent, and the US government describes him as unjustly imprisoned.
For Reed’s release, Biden agreed to release Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot serving a 20-year sentence in federal prison for conspiring to smuggle cocaine into the United States.
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