THE MAN known as the “merchant of death”, the alleged black-market arms dealer Viktor Bout, could be on American soil to face terrorism charges within weeks after a Thai appeals court ruled he must face charges of conspiring to supply Colombian rebels with weapons.
The 43-year-old Russian, who has maintained his innocence during two years in a maximum security prison in Thailand, will continue to fight the US’s extradition request. His lawyer said he would lodge a petition with the Thai government asking it to block the extradition.
“The defence believes Bout will not be safe in the US and he will not receive a fair trial,” Lak Nittiwattanawichan said outside court.
The Thai government is not compelled to extradite Bout, but is almost certain to do so, given his high profile, and strong American pressure. If he is not extradited within three months, he must be released.
Bout has been in jail since March 2008, when he was arrested in a five-star Bangkok hotel in a joint US-Thai sting operation. Government agents posed as arms buyers for Colombian rebel group the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc).
According to the US grand jury indictment, Bout told the agents he could supply them with 700-800 surface-to-air missiles, more than 5,000 AK47s and millions of rounds of ammunition, as well as C4 explosive, landmines and unmanned aerial drones.
Bout was indicted on four charges, including conspiracy to kill US nationals and conspiracy to provide material support to a proscribed terrorist group. The US and UN have claimed Bout, a former Soviet airforce officer, has been a weapons trafficker since the 1990s, using cargo planes to move arms to Africa, Central America and the Middle East.
He is alleged to have brokered weapons deals in Afghanistan, Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Sudan, and to have armed the forces of the Liberian dictator Charles Taylor and Libya’s Muammar Gadafy. The 2005 movie Lord of War, starring Nicolas Cage, is loosely based on the Russian’s life.
Bout, who maintains he has never traded in weapons, told his trial he ran a legitimate air cargo business and was in Thailand to discuss selling aircraft to Thais.
Last August, a Thai court ruled Bout should not be extradited because Farc was not a terrorist group but a political one.
The appeals court yesterday overturned that decision, saying Farc was a proscribed terrorist organisation and Thailand was obliged to extradite Bout. Prosecutors brought six new charges against him on Thursday, including money-laundering and electronic fraud. Those charges will be heard in a US court.– (Guardian service)