Bout helped Il-76 crew escape from Afghanistan - wife.

20/9 Tass 140

BANGKOK, September 20 (Itar-Tass) - The wife of the Russian
businessman Viktor Bout said he had never had business contacts with the
Taliban, except for his participation in the talks over the release of the
Il-76 crew captured in Afghanistan in 1995.
Alla Bout said it in an open letter to Thai Prime Minister Abhisit
Wechachiwa asking to protect her husband Viktor Bout from U.S.
persecution. The text of the appeal, together with the two attachments
composed by lawyers and experts, were handed over to the Itar-Tass office
on Monday.
Bout never owned the plane; it was property of Aerostan, a company
registered in Tatarstan, and the crew were not personnel of Bout's
airline, but at that time, Bout chartered the plane to ferry cargoes under
a contract with the Afghan government led by Burhanuddin Rabbani," Alla
Bout's letter said.
After the Taliban captured the plane, "Viktor Bout flew to Kandahar
seven times as a member of the Russian diplomatic delegation, led by Zamir
Kabulov."
"When the talks over the release of the crew failed, a decision was
made to arrange an escape. Viktor Bout acted as its organizer, coordinator
and sponsor.
"The key point is that in arranging the pilots' escape the reserves of
Rabbani's government were used in the first place, as well as of the
Afghan government's reconnaissance service, which had its agents planed on
the Taliban.
"The crew would have never escaped without outside assistance. Bout
did much to secure the crew's prison break, which had been planned
carefully and thoroughly," the letter said.
The letter denied the allegations by journalists Douglas Farah and
Stephen Broun in the book "Merchant of Death" that after the pilots'
escape from prison, Bout made a contract to supply arms to the Taliban.
"A courageous action by a former serviceman who did not like his
compatriots remaining in the enemy's hands, was turned into a deed by a
modern East European arms trader, a businessman without principles, who is
only after profits. Experts are sure that it is in chasing this new type
of enemy for America that the journalists decided to write a new biography
of Viktor Bout, which, in effect, brought together all the accusations
against the businessman in one book.
"Bout never supplied weapons to the Taliban. This movement has always
been an enemy to Russia, and taking into account geopolitical issues, the
Russian law-enforcement bodies would have immediately arrested Bout even
if we assume that weapons supplies could have been possible, while the
court would have given him a long prison term.
"Viktor Bout made cargo shipments for Rabbani's government, but never
dealt with the Taliban," according to Alla Bout.
She hopes that Thai government will take into account the special
circumstances of the case, on which a number of documents shed light.
Specifically, Alla Bout listed facts of Viktor Bout's activities in
the 1990s. All the shipments were documented or contracted, and no court
in the world has found Bout guilty. Also, the mass media overstated the
scope of the businessman's activity, the fleet of his aircraft he owned
did not exceed 20 units, including small aircraft and helicopters.
By 2001, Bout had sold almost all the aircraft, except the one parked
at the United Arab Emirates.
After 2001, Bout did not participate in any international projects,
and only left Russia four times to travel to China, Montenegro, Armenia
and Thailand.
The myth about the "merchant of death" appeared in 2000-2007, when
Bout gave up business.
He never visited the USA, and only journeyed to Argentina only once.
"The Air Bas company reportedly flew shipments to Iraq under the
Pentagon's orders in 2003-2007, is registered in the USA and "by no means
is connected to Bout."
Bout never had several passports, except the Russian and foreign
travel ones.
The documents expose the so-called "experts" who conducted an
investigation against the Russian businessman.
In particular, they expose the activity of Johan Peleman, citing facts
of numerous errors he had made and his unsubstantiated analytical
conclusions. When he was writing the articles, Peleman had no legal
background, and used pseudo facts from the Internet and Douglas Farah's
books.
"Bout's image was demonized every day, and finally, his image and the
real person began to exist separately," Alla Bout said.
She said the "U.S. accusations are based on the utterance allegedly
pronounced by my husband and provoked by U.S. secret service agents,
regarding an intention to commit a crime against the USA. In April 2008,
Thai prosecutors refused to open a criminal case against Bout under
Article 135 of Thailand's Criminal Code due to a lack of evidence.
"During the hearing, the USA refused to show an alleged tape to the
Thai Court, citing secrecy and potential damage to Thailand's security
from divulging this information. My husband may be sentenced to life for a
would-be crime, for which he is not under jurisdiction of Thailand, Russia
or any other country except the USA.
The image of "the world villain will not let a U.S. jury to have an
unbiased review of the charges brought against him," Bout's wife said.
-0-myz/usn