Suspected Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout gestures after leaving a courtroom in Bangkok, August 11, 2009. A Thai court on Tuesday refused to extradite alleged Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout to the United States to face trial on charges of supplying weapons to Colombian rebels.
The unexpected ruling in favor of Viktor Bout was welcomed by Russia. The United States, which had mounted the sting operation that led to his arrest at a Bangkok hotel, said it was "mystified" by the court's decision.
Bangkok Criminal Court Judge Chittakorn Pattanasiri said Thai prosecutors have 72 hours to indicate whether to appeal, and, if not, Bout will be set free. If an appeal is filed, Bout will be held pending further proceedings.
The 42-year-old Bout, who has denied any wrongdoing, jumped up from his seat upon hearing Tuesday's ruling and hugged his crying wife. He flashed a victory sign to TV cameras as he was escorted from the courtroom by guards.
Bout's extradition hearing was marred by allegations from both the Americans and Russians, some in public, mostly in private, accusing each other political interference and of bribing Thai officials _ a common practice in a country where the judiciary is notoriously corrupt.
"Round one has gone to Bout, but the battle for justice for this international menace is not over. It is unacceptable that this man goes free," Ed Royce, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on terrorism, said in a statement. "Politics seems to have trumped the law. Something is rotten in Bangkok."
There was no immediate comment from the Thai government.
Bout has never been tried despite being the subject of U.N. sanctions and a Belgian money-laundering indictment. Over the past two decades, he has allegedly supplied weapons used in civil wars in South America, the Middle East and Africa.
He was arrested in March 2008 after U.S. agents posed as arms buyers for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, which Washington classifies as a terrorist organization.
Two months later, he was indicted on charges of conspiring to sell millions of dollars worth of weapons to FARC, including more than 700 surface-to-air missiles, thousands of guns, high-tech helicopters and airplanes outfitted with grenade launchers and missiles.
If convicted in the U.S. of the most serious terrorism-related charges, he could be sentenced to life in prison.
When the Thai court took up the request to extradite Bout in June 2008, it seemed like an open and shut case. Under the Thai-American extradition treaty, authorities only needed to identify Bout, prove his crimes merit a trial and show the case was not political.
But from the start, Bout's extradition hearing was marred by repeated delays as a defense attorney fell sick and witnesses failed to turn up. The delays inspired a Cold War-era tug of war between Russia and the United States.
Arms trade experts have alleged Bout has been useful for Russia's intelligence apparatus, and that Russia did not want him to go on trial in the United States. American lawmakers led by Royce accused the Russians of influencing the process. The Russian Foreign Ministry has publicly criticized the pressure it said was being applied on Thailand by the Americans.
In interviews with The Associated Press, representatives on both sides have leveled unproved accusations of Thai officials being bribed by the other side.
Still, Bout's extradition appeared inevitable after a Thai Foreign Ministry official told the court in May that the request met the conditions of the Thai-American extradition treaty.
Yet on Tuesday, Judge Chittakorn rejected the extradition request because he deemed FARC a political movement, rather than a terrorist group, which meant that Bout's alleged crimes were political offenses. Extradition cannot be granted when it involves a political offense.
Chittakorn also ruled the extradition treaty did not apply because Bout's alleged crimes couldn't be prosecuted in Thailand and did not involve Thai citizens or Thai interests.
U.S. Embassy deputy chief of mission James F. Entwistle said Thai prosecutors have said they will appeal.
"We're disappointed and mystified by this lower court ruling," Entwistle said. "We think the facts, relevant Thai law, and the terms of the bilateral extradition treaty clearly supports the extradition of Viktor Bout to the United States to stand trial on serious terrorism charges."
In Washington, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters any appeal would be up to the Thai government. "We're disappointed in the court decision," he said.
Russian Embassy official Andrey V. Dvornikov said Moscow was "satisfied" with the court's decision and he was awaiting the Thai prosecutors' decision on an appeal. "This case will be over when Mr. Bout is home," he said.
The U.N. suspects Bout's clients have included warlords and dictators, including Liberia's Charles Taylor and Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, the late dictator Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire and both sides of the civil war in Angola. Bout, whose network of companies had as many as 50 airplanes, also reportedly supplied arms to the Taliban and, indirectly, al-Qaida _ charges he has repeatedly denied.
In their 2007 book, "Merchant of Death: Money, Guns, Planes, and the Man Who Makes War Possible," Steve Braun and Douglas Farah alleged Bout sold as many as 10,000 AK-47 assault rifles to FARC in the late 1990s through a front company.
The FARC has been trying to overthrow successive Colombian governments for a half-century. It has been put on the defensive in recent years by Colombia's U.S.-backed military.
Bout's nickname, the "Merchant of Death," came in 2000 from a minister at Britain's Foreign Office who was concerned about Bout allegedly ferrying weapons around Africa. Bout is widely believed to be a model for the arms dealer portrayed by Nicolas Cage in the 2005 movie "Lord of War."
David M. Crane, an international law professor at Syracuse University and former prosecutor of the Sierra Leone tribunal that indicted Charles Taylor, said Bout would likely return to weapons dealing if he is set free.
"He was a player and could be a player again. This guy has nine lives," Crane said. "He certainly has the capability of showing up in the wrong place at the wrong time and providing weapons for cash or diamonds."
Showing posts with label Merchant of Death. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Merchant of Death. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
DTN News: Thailand TODAY August 12, 2009 ~ Thais Reject US Request To Extradite Arms Dealer
DTN News: Thailand TODAY August 12, 2009 ~ Thais Reject US Request To Extradite Arms Dealer
*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media
(NSI News Source Info) BANGKOK, Thailand - August 12, 2009: A Thai court on Tuesday rejected a U.S. request to extradite a Russian arms dealer who allegedly sold weapons to dictators and warlords around the world, raising the prospect that he could be freed by the weekend. Suspected Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout gestures after leaving a courtroom in Bangkok, August 11, 2009. A Thai court on Tuesday refused to extradite alleged Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout to the United States to face trial on charges of supplying weapons to Colombian rebels.
The unexpected ruling in favor of Viktor Bout was welcomed by Russia. The United States, which had mounted the sting operation that led to his arrest at a Bangkok hotel, said it was "mystified" by the court's decision.
Bangkok Criminal Court Judge Chittakorn Pattanasiri said Thai prosecutors have 72 hours to indicate whether to appeal, and, if not, Bout will be set free. If an appeal is filed, Bout will be held pending further proceedings.
The 42-year-old Bout, who has denied any wrongdoing, jumped up from his seat upon hearing Tuesday's ruling and hugged his crying wife. He flashed a victory sign to TV cameras as he was escorted from the courtroom by guards.
Bout's extradition hearing was marred by allegations from both the Americans and Russians, some in public, mostly in private, accusing each other political interference and of bribing Thai officials _ a common practice in a country where the judiciary is notoriously corrupt.
"Round one has gone to Bout, but the battle for justice for this international menace is not over. It is unacceptable that this man goes free," Ed Royce, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on terrorism, said in a statement. "Politics seems to have trumped the law. Something is rotten in Bangkok."
There was no immediate comment from the Thai government.
Bout has never been tried despite being the subject of U.N. sanctions and a Belgian money-laundering indictment. Over the past two decades, he has allegedly supplied weapons used in civil wars in South America, the Middle East and Africa.
He was arrested in March 2008 after U.S. agents posed as arms buyers for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, which Washington classifies as a terrorist organization.
Two months later, he was indicted on charges of conspiring to sell millions of dollars worth of weapons to FARC, including more than 700 surface-to-air missiles, thousands of guns, high-tech helicopters and airplanes outfitted with grenade launchers and missiles.
If convicted in the U.S. of the most serious terrorism-related charges, he could be sentenced to life in prison.
When the Thai court took up the request to extradite Bout in June 2008, it seemed like an open and shut case. Under the Thai-American extradition treaty, authorities only needed to identify Bout, prove his crimes merit a trial and show the case was not political.
But from the start, Bout's extradition hearing was marred by repeated delays as a defense attorney fell sick and witnesses failed to turn up. The delays inspired a Cold War-era tug of war between Russia and the United States.
Arms trade experts have alleged Bout has been useful for Russia's intelligence apparatus, and that Russia did not want him to go on trial in the United States. American lawmakers led by Royce accused the Russians of influencing the process. The Russian Foreign Ministry has publicly criticized the pressure it said was being applied on Thailand by the Americans.
In interviews with The Associated Press, representatives on both sides have leveled unproved accusations of Thai officials being bribed by the other side.
Still, Bout's extradition appeared inevitable after a Thai Foreign Ministry official told the court in May that the request met the conditions of the Thai-American extradition treaty.
Yet on Tuesday, Judge Chittakorn rejected the extradition request because he deemed FARC a political movement, rather than a terrorist group, which meant that Bout's alleged crimes were political offenses. Extradition cannot be granted when it involves a political offense.
Chittakorn also ruled the extradition treaty did not apply because Bout's alleged crimes couldn't be prosecuted in Thailand and did not involve Thai citizens or Thai interests.
U.S. Embassy deputy chief of mission James F. Entwistle said Thai prosecutors have said they will appeal.
"We're disappointed and mystified by this lower court ruling," Entwistle said. "We think the facts, relevant Thai law, and the terms of the bilateral extradition treaty clearly supports the extradition of Viktor Bout to the United States to stand trial on serious terrorism charges."
In Washington, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters any appeal would be up to the Thai government. "We're disappointed in the court decision," he said.
Russian Embassy official Andrey V. Dvornikov said Moscow was "satisfied" with the court's decision and he was awaiting the Thai prosecutors' decision on an appeal. "This case will be over when Mr. Bout is home," he said.
The U.N. suspects Bout's clients have included warlords and dictators, including Liberia's Charles Taylor and Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, the late dictator Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire and both sides of the civil war in Angola. Bout, whose network of companies had as many as 50 airplanes, also reportedly supplied arms to the Taliban and, indirectly, al-Qaida _ charges he has repeatedly denied.
In their 2007 book, "Merchant of Death: Money, Guns, Planes, and the Man Who Makes War Possible," Steve Braun and Douglas Farah alleged Bout sold as many as 10,000 AK-47 assault rifles to FARC in the late 1990s through a front company.
The FARC has been trying to overthrow successive Colombian governments for a half-century. It has been put on the defensive in recent years by Colombia's U.S.-backed military.
Bout's nickname, the "Merchant of Death," came in 2000 from a minister at Britain's Foreign Office who was concerned about Bout allegedly ferrying weapons around Africa. Bout is widely believed to be a model for the arms dealer portrayed by Nicolas Cage in the 2005 movie "Lord of War."
David M. Crane, an international law professor at Syracuse University and former prosecutor of the Sierra Leone tribunal that indicted Charles Taylor, said Bout would likely return to weapons dealing if he is set free.
"He was a player and could be a player again. This guy has nine lives," Crane said. "He certainly has the capability of showing up in the wrong place at the wrong time and providing weapons for cash or diamonds."
Suspected Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout gestures after leaving a courtroom in Bangkok, August 11, 2009. A Thai court on Tuesday refused to extradite alleged Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout to the United States to face trial on charges of supplying weapons to Colombian rebels.
The unexpected ruling in favor of Viktor Bout was welcomed by Russia. The United States, which had mounted the sting operation that led to his arrest at a Bangkok hotel, said it was "mystified" by the court's decision.
Bangkok Criminal Court Judge Chittakorn Pattanasiri said Thai prosecutors have 72 hours to indicate whether to appeal, and, if not, Bout will be set free. If an appeal is filed, Bout will be held pending further proceedings.
The 42-year-old Bout, who has denied any wrongdoing, jumped up from his seat upon hearing Tuesday's ruling and hugged his crying wife. He flashed a victory sign to TV cameras as he was escorted from the courtroom by guards.
Bout's extradition hearing was marred by allegations from both the Americans and Russians, some in public, mostly in private, accusing each other political interference and of bribing Thai officials _ a common practice in a country where the judiciary is notoriously corrupt.
"Round one has gone to Bout, but the battle for justice for this international menace is not over. It is unacceptable that this man goes free," Ed Royce, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on terrorism, said in a statement. "Politics seems to have trumped the law. Something is rotten in Bangkok."
There was no immediate comment from the Thai government.
Bout has never been tried despite being the subject of U.N. sanctions and a Belgian money-laundering indictment. Over the past two decades, he has allegedly supplied weapons used in civil wars in South America, the Middle East and Africa.
He was arrested in March 2008 after U.S. agents posed as arms buyers for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, which Washington classifies as a terrorist organization.
Two months later, he was indicted on charges of conspiring to sell millions of dollars worth of weapons to FARC, including more than 700 surface-to-air missiles, thousands of guns, high-tech helicopters and airplanes outfitted with grenade launchers and missiles.
If convicted in the U.S. of the most serious terrorism-related charges, he could be sentenced to life in prison.
When the Thai court took up the request to extradite Bout in June 2008, it seemed like an open and shut case. Under the Thai-American extradition treaty, authorities only needed to identify Bout, prove his crimes merit a trial and show the case was not political.
But from the start, Bout's extradition hearing was marred by repeated delays as a defense attorney fell sick and witnesses failed to turn up. The delays inspired a Cold War-era tug of war between Russia and the United States.
Arms trade experts have alleged Bout has been useful for Russia's intelligence apparatus, and that Russia did not want him to go on trial in the United States. American lawmakers led by Royce accused the Russians of influencing the process. The Russian Foreign Ministry has publicly criticized the pressure it said was being applied on Thailand by the Americans.
In interviews with The Associated Press, representatives on both sides have leveled unproved accusations of Thai officials being bribed by the other side.
Still, Bout's extradition appeared inevitable after a Thai Foreign Ministry official told the court in May that the request met the conditions of the Thai-American extradition treaty.
Yet on Tuesday, Judge Chittakorn rejected the extradition request because he deemed FARC a political movement, rather than a terrorist group, which meant that Bout's alleged crimes were political offenses. Extradition cannot be granted when it involves a political offense.
Chittakorn also ruled the extradition treaty did not apply because Bout's alleged crimes couldn't be prosecuted in Thailand and did not involve Thai citizens or Thai interests.
U.S. Embassy deputy chief of mission James F. Entwistle said Thai prosecutors have said they will appeal.
"We're disappointed and mystified by this lower court ruling," Entwistle said. "We think the facts, relevant Thai law, and the terms of the bilateral extradition treaty clearly supports the extradition of Viktor Bout to the United States to stand trial on serious terrorism charges."
In Washington, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters any appeal would be up to the Thai government. "We're disappointed in the court decision," he said.
Russian Embassy official Andrey V. Dvornikov said Moscow was "satisfied" with the court's decision and he was awaiting the Thai prosecutors' decision on an appeal. "This case will be over when Mr. Bout is home," he said.
The U.N. suspects Bout's clients have included warlords and dictators, including Liberia's Charles Taylor and Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, the late dictator Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire and both sides of the civil war in Angola. Bout, whose network of companies had as many as 50 airplanes, also reportedly supplied arms to the Taliban and, indirectly, al-Qaida _ charges he has repeatedly denied.
In their 2007 book, "Merchant of Death: Money, Guns, Planes, and the Man Who Makes War Possible," Steve Braun and Douglas Farah alleged Bout sold as many as 10,000 AK-47 assault rifles to FARC in the late 1990s through a front company.
The FARC has been trying to overthrow successive Colombian governments for a half-century. It has been put on the defensive in recent years by Colombia's U.S.-backed military.
Bout's nickname, the "Merchant of Death," came in 2000 from a minister at Britain's Foreign Office who was concerned about Bout allegedly ferrying weapons around Africa. Bout is widely believed to be a model for the arms dealer portrayed by Nicolas Cage in the 2005 movie "Lord of War."
David M. Crane, an international law professor at Syracuse University and former prosecutor of the Sierra Leone tribunal that indicted Charles Taylor, said Bout would likely return to weapons dealing if he is set free.
"He was a player and could be a player again. This guy has nine lives," Crane said. "He certainly has the capability of showing up in the wrong place at the wrong time and providing weapons for cash or diamonds."
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
DTN News: Thailand TODAY August 11, 2009 ~ Russian 'Merchant of Death' Set For Thai Hearing
DTN News: Thailand TODAY August 11, 2009 ~ Russian 'Merchant of Death' Set For Thai Hearing
*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media
(NSI News Source Info) BANGKOK, Thailand - August 11, 2009: Viktor Bout, the alleged Russian arms dealer dubbed the "Merchant of Death", is due Tuesday to hear the result of his drawn-out fight against extradition from Thailand to the United States. 
Surrounded by security guards, alleged Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, center, is escorted to a criminal courtroom in Bangkok, Thailand Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2009. A Thai court Tuesday rejected a U.S. request to extradite Bout dubbed the "Merchant of Death," dealing a setback to American efforts to try him on charges of plotting to supply arms to Colombian rebels.
A Bangkok court is set to rule on a request from Washington to extradite the 42-year-old former Soviet air force pilot, who is said to have inspired the Hollywood film "Lord of War" starring Nicolas Cage.
The burly, moustachioed Bout was arrested in a sting operation at a hotel in the Thai capital in March 2008 on charges that he peddled weapons, including to Al-Qaeda, that were used in some of the world's most violent conflicts.
Bout, who has since been held at a maximum-security prison outside Bangkok, has denied the charges and insists that he ran a legitimate air cargo business.
"I never supplied arms and especially never had any deal with Al-Qaeda," Bout, who speaks six languages and is known by eight different aliases, said in a rare prison interview with British television earlier this year.
Bout was born in the Tajikistan capital Dushanbe in 1967 and studied several languages -- including English, French and Portuguese -- at Moscow's military institute for foreign languages before joining the Soviet air force.
He has repeatedly denied suggestions that he was a former KGB agent, but the fall of the Soviet Union allowed Bout to buy weaponry, aircraft and helicopters at throwaway rates and supply them to conflict zones.
The planes and helicopters as well as the crew manning them were hardy, low maintenance and above all very cheap.
Former British foreign office minister Peter Hain dubbed him the "Merchant of Death" and rights watchdog Amnesty International has alleged that at one time he operated a fleet of more than 50 planes ferrying weapons around Africa.
The British press has also linked him to Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network and to Afghanistan's extremist Taliban movement. Bout is also suspected of smuggling arms to former Liberian president Charles Taylor, who was subject to an UN arms embargo.
He was nabbed in a sting operation at a five-star Bangkok hotel after allegedly agreeing to supply surface-to-air missiles to US agents posing as guerrillas from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
Bout faces life in prison if sent to the United States and convicted there on terrorism charges, including conspiracy to kill US officers or employees and conspiracy to acquire and use an anti-aircraft missile.
Journalist Douglas Farah, who co-authored a book on Bout, has called him "a unique creature" born of the end of Communism and the rise of unbridled capitalism when the Berlin Wall came down in the early 1990s.
"He saw ... abandoned aircraft on the runways from Moscow to Kiev, no longer able to fly because of lack of money for fuel or maintenance; huge stores of surplus weapons that were guarded by guards suddenly receiving little or no salary; and the booming demand for those weapons from traditional Soviet clients and newly emerging armed groups from Africa to the Philippines.
"He simply wedded the three things, taking aircraft for almost nothing, filling them with cheaply purchased weapons from the arsenals, and flying them to clients who could pay," Farah said.
Bout, also known as "Boris" and "Vadim Markovich Aminov" among several other pseudonyms, has kept a high profile since his arrest, aided by an impassioned appearance by his wife at an extradition hearing earlier this year.
"He became a celebrity in a sense because of NGOs and UN reporting about him," Alex Vines, head of the Africa programme at Britain's Royal Institute of International Affairs, told AFP.
"He became the brand name for sanction-busting, but there are plenty of others who can offer the same services. It contributed to his problems, that he was a brand to be recognized," he said.
Surrounded by security guards, alleged Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, center, is escorted to a criminal courtroom in Bangkok, Thailand Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2009. A Thai court Tuesday rejected a U.S. request to extradite Bout dubbed the "Merchant of Death," dealing a setback to American efforts to try him on charges of plotting to supply arms to Colombian rebels.
A Bangkok court is set to rule on a request from Washington to extradite the 42-year-old former Soviet air force pilot, who is said to have inspired the Hollywood film "Lord of War" starring Nicolas Cage.
The burly, moustachioed Bout was arrested in a sting operation at a hotel in the Thai capital in March 2008 on charges that he peddled weapons, including to Al-Qaeda, that were used in some of the world's most violent conflicts.
Bout, who has since been held at a maximum-security prison outside Bangkok, has denied the charges and insists that he ran a legitimate air cargo business.
"I never supplied arms and especially never had any deal with Al-Qaeda," Bout, who speaks six languages and is known by eight different aliases, said in a rare prison interview with British television earlier this year.
Bout was born in the Tajikistan capital Dushanbe in 1967 and studied several languages -- including English, French and Portuguese -- at Moscow's military institute for foreign languages before joining the Soviet air force.
He has repeatedly denied suggestions that he was a former KGB agent, but the fall of the Soviet Union allowed Bout to buy weaponry, aircraft and helicopters at throwaway rates and supply them to conflict zones.
The planes and helicopters as well as the crew manning them were hardy, low maintenance and above all very cheap.
Former British foreign office minister Peter Hain dubbed him the "Merchant of Death" and rights watchdog Amnesty International has alleged that at one time he operated a fleet of more than 50 planes ferrying weapons around Africa.
The British press has also linked him to Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network and to Afghanistan's extremist Taliban movement. Bout is also suspected of smuggling arms to former Liberian president Charles Taylor, who was subject to an UN arms embargo.
He was nabbed in a sting operation at a five-star Bangkok hotel after allegedly agreeing to supply surface-to-air missiles to US agents posing as guerrillas from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
Bout faces life in prison if sent to the United States and convicted there on terrorism charges, including conspiracy to kill US officers or employees and conspiracy to acquire and use an anti-aircraft missile.
Journalist Douglas Farah, who co-authored a book on Bout, has called him "a unique creature" born of the end of Communism and the rise of unbridled capitalism when the Berlin Wall came down in the early 1990s.
"He saw ... abandoned aircraft on the runways from Moscow to Kiev, no longer able to fly because of lack of money for fuel or maintenance; huge stores of surplus weapons that were guarded by guards suddenly receiving little or no salary; and the booming demand for those weapons from traditional Soviet clients and newly emerging armed groups from Africa to the Philippines.
"He simply wedded the three things, taking aircraft for almost nothing, filling them with cheaply purchased weapons from the arsenals, and flying them to clients who could pay," Farah said.
Bout, also known as "Boris" and "Vadim Markovich Aminov" among several other pseudonyms, has kept a high profile since his arrest, aided by an impassioned appearance by his wife at an extradition hearing earlier this year.
"He became a celebrity in a sense because of NGOs and UN reporting about him," Alex Vines, head of the Africa programme at Britain's Royal Institute of International Affairs, told AFP.
"He became the brand name for sanction-busting, but there are plenty of others who can offer the same services. It contributed to his problems, that he was a brand to be recognized," he said.
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