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MOSCOW CONDEMNS BOUT SENTENCE AND SEEKS RETURN
RIA Novosti
06/04/2012
MOSCOW
Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Friday it will take efforts to
repatriate convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout
Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Friday it will take all efforts
necessary to repatriate convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout
after a U.S. court sentenced him to 25 years in prison.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he would discuss Bout's sentence
at a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
"The Russian Foreign Ministry will take whatever action necessary
to repatriate Viktor Bout back to his Motherland by any means within
international law. This issue will, without doubt, be one of our top
priorities in Russian-American relations," the Foreign Ministry said.
"In spite of the unreliability of the evidence, the illegal character
of his arrest involving the participation of US special service
agents in Thailand and the subsequent extradition, American legal
officials, having carried out a political order, ignored the arguments
of lawyers and numerous appeals from all levels in defense of this
Russian citizen," the Russian ministry said.
"Long before the sentence was given to Bout, the authorities declared
him the 'Merchant of Death' and almost an international terrorist,
but this accusation was based exclusively on his imputed 'criminal
intent,' the Ministry added.
"From there, an attempt was made to force him to admit his guilt by
creating unbearable conditions for detention, by both physical and
psychological means. The absolutely unacceptable campaign by the
American media was aimed at influencing the jury and the judicial
process in the 'right direction.' "
Russia is not seeking revenge over the Bout verdict, Russian Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov said later on Friday. "In this situation we
are not seeking revenge, but want to help Viktor Bout. We are not
proceeding by a desire to take revenge at any price, but by the desire
to enforce the rights of our compatriot. We will actively support the
appeal that Bout's lawyers are going to file and will strive for his
repatriation," Lavrov added.
Russia's Federation council said that country should do a swap deal
with the United States to repatriate Bout.
"All possibilities of returning Bout back home should be studied...but
it seems that a swap deal would be the most rapid resolution of
this conflict," Valery Shnyakin, the chair of the council's Foreign
Committee said.
Russia and the United States have both signed the European Convention
on Transfer of Sentenced Persons, which allows a person sentenced for
crime in a foreign country to be transferred to serve his sentence
back in his homeland. "So Bout's repatriation is possible," Russia's
Justice Ministry said on Friday.
The 25-year prison sentence for Bout is absolutely inadmissible
and biased, the Russian Foreign Ministry's Human Rights Spokesman,
Konstantin Dolgov said on Friday.
"We consider the U.S. Court's 25-year prison sentence given to Viktor
Bout absolutely inadmissible, unbiased and non-objective," Dolgov
said in a statement.
"We have closely monitored the investigative process and can say for
sure that physical and psychological pressure was used against Bout,"
he said, adding Bout "was actually kidnapped...and extradited to the
United States."
"It definitely raises doubts about the grounds that the prosecution
is build on and the verdict's justice."
Douglas McNabb, a Transnational criminal defense lawyer told RIA
Novosti Russia may push for the annulment of Bout's extradition from
Thailand to the United States.
"If the trial continues, and if the court holds that the extradition
was illegal, the Thai government will be entitled in accordance with
the U.S.-Thai extradition treaty to legitimately demand Bout's return,"
McNabb said.
Other lawyers also criticized Bout's trial.
"I think he (Bout) was railroaded all the way", said Russell Mace,
a criminal defense lawyer who has been defending individuals and
companies in federal court throughout the United States for many years.
He also pointed out some drawbacks in the Bout's defense. "I cannot
believe no defense witnesses were called and in my opinion there
should have been a rather extensive defense", he said.
However, witnesses for the prosecution, such as the Drugs Enforcement
Agency (DEA) agent and the informers, did testify at the trial. The
court received tapped telephone calls records.
"Bout's appeal is his last hope", Mace concluded.
A the Federal District Court of New York jury ound Bout guilty in
November last year of conspiring to kill U.S. officials and citizens,
acquiring and intending to use Russian-made Igla anti-aircraft missiles
and providing support to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
(FARC), considered a terrorist group by the United States.
Bout has denied all the charges against him. In an interview with Voice
of Russia Radio on Wednesday, he accused the U.S. Defense Intelligence
Agency (DIA) of hypocrisy and double standards, saying that it was
wrong to jail a person "just for what he has said, even if he has done
no wrong" while many arms dealers in the United States go unpunished.
RIA Novosti
06/04/2012
MOSCOW
Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Friday it will take efforts to
repatriate convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout
Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Friday it will take all efforts
necessary to repatriate convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout
after a U.S. court sentenced him to 25 years in prison.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he would discuss Bout's sentence
at a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
"The Russian Foreign Ministry will take whatever action necessary
to repatriate Viktor Bout back to his Motherland by any means within
international law. This issue will, without doubt, be one of our top
priorities in Russian-American relations," the Foreign Ministry said.
"In spite of the unreliability of the evidence, the illegal character
of his arrest involving the participation of US special service
agents in Thailand and the subsequent extradition, American legal
officials, having carried out a political order, ignored the arguments
of lawyers and numerous appeals from all levels in defense of this
Russian citizen," the Russian ministry said.
"Long before the sentence was given to Bout, the authorities declared
him the 'Merchant of Death' and almost an international terrorist,
but this accusation was based exclusively on his imputed 'criminal
intent,' the Ministry added.
"From there, an attempt was made to force him to admit his guilt by
creating unbearable conditions for detention, by both physical and
psychological means. The absolutely unacceptable campaign by the
American media was aimed at influencing the jury and the judicial
process in the 'right direction.' "
Russia is not seeking revenge over the Bout verdict, Russian Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov said later on Friday. "In this situation we
are not seeking revenge, but want to help Viktor Bout. We are not
proceeding by a desire to take revenge at any price, but by the desire
to enforce the rights of our compatriot. We will actively support the
appeal that Bout's lawyers are going to file and will strive for his
repatriation," Lavrov added.
Russia's Federation council said that country should do a swap deal
with the United States to repatriate Bout.
"All possibilities of returning Bout back home should be studied...but
it seems that a swap deal would be the most rapid resolution of
this conflict," Valery Shnyakin, the chair of the council's Foreign
Committee said.
Russia and the United States have both signed the European Convention
on Transfer of Sentenced Persons, which allows a person sentenced for
crime in a foreign country to be transferred to serve his sentence
back in his homeland. "So Bout's repatriation is possible," Russia's
Justice Ministry said on Friday.
The 25-year prison sentence for Bout is absolutely inadmissible
and biased, the Russian Foreign Ministry's Human Rights Spokesman,
Konstantin Dolgov said on Friday.
"We consider the U.S. Court's 25-year prison sentence given to Viktor
Bout absolutely inadmissible, unbiased and non-objective," Dolgov
said in a statement.
"We have closely monitored the investigative process and can say for
sure that physical and psychological pressure was used against Bout,"
he said, adding Bout "was actually kidnapped...and extradited to the
United States."
"It definitely raises doubts about the grounds that the prosecution
is build on and the verdict's justice."
Douglas McNabb, a Transnational criminal defense lawyer told RIA
Novosti Russia may push for the annulment of Bout's extradition from
Thailand to the United States.
"If the trial continues, and if the court holds that the extradition
was illegal, the Thai government will be entitled in accordance with
the U.S.-Thai extradition treaty to legitimately demand Bout's return,"
McNabb said.
Other lawyers also criticized Bout's trial.
"I think he (Bout) was railroaded all the way", said Russell Mace,
a criminal defense lawyer who has been defending individuals and
companies in federal court throughout the United States for many years.
He also pointed out some drawbacks in the Bout's defense. "I cannot
believe no defense witnesses were called and in my opinion there
should have been a rather extensive defense", he said.
However, witnesses for the prosecution, such as the Drugs Enforcement
Agency (DEA) agent and the informers, did testify at the trial. The
court received tapped telephone calls records.
"Bout's appeal is his last hope", Mace concluded.
A the Federal District Court of New York jury ound Bout guilty in
November last year of conspiring to kill U.S. officials and citizens,
acquiring and intending to use Russian-made Igla anti-aircraft missiles
and providing support to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
(FARC), considered a terrorist group by the United States.
Bout has denied all the charges against him. In an interview with Voice
of Russia Radio on Wednesday, he accused the U.S. Defense Intelligence
Agency (DIA) of hypocrisy and double standards, saying that it was
wrong to jail a person "just for what he has said, even if he has done
no wrong" while many arms dealers in the United States go unpunished.