Thai court turns down US request in extradition case.

4/10 Tass 23

BANGKOK, October 4 (Itar-Tass) - Thailand's criminal court turned down
the U.S. request not to consider extra charges against Russian citizen
Viktor Bout, arrested within the case over illegal arms trade. The court's
decision, made on Monday morning, will hamper the U.S. efforts to secure
early extradition.
"Now there's time to prove the partiality and inappropriateness of the
charges brought against me, which are also related to my first case," Bout
told Itar-Tass, "I have nothing to do either with the Tajik airline or
other cases the United States charged me with. My defence and I are ready
to prove my innocence."
Bout noted that the situation was "unpredictable," but that "if the
case is reviewed under legal norms, it might be possible to win it."
According to Bout, he hopes Thailand's parliament would take into
account his address and "set up a special commission to investigate his
case, in which there's a wealth of violations and "uncharted areas."
"Hopefully, we'll be able to prove the groundlessness of all the
charges against me and be able to win all these cases," the businessman
added.
Bout was detained in Bangkok in March 2008, on U.S. extradition
request. The USA accuses the Russian businessman of illegal arms trade and
other crimes.
On August 20, 2010, the court of appeals in Bangkok ruled to extradite
Bout, saying that his case had nothing to do with politics and that the
evidence against him, according to the plaintiffs' assurances, was kept in
the territory of the USA. The verdict evoked a sharp reaction from Moscow.
The Russian Foreign Ministry called the decision "political motivated and
biased."
However, even before the ruling by the Thai court of appeals, the USA
brought new charges against Bout. His extradition cannot take place before
these new charges have been reviewed. On Monday, the court refused to
grant the U.S. request not to review the charges, a move the USA had made
to expedite the extradition procedure.
Earlier, Alla Bout, the businessman's wife asked in an open letter
Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to protect her husband from U.S.
persecution.
"We're convinced that the U.S. accusations have the nature of a
political persecution. During a decade of information war, the United
States has failed to present any evidence of the crimes allegedly
committed by my husband either to the Russian Justice or to the Thai
court," Alla Bout said.
The letter denied the allegations by journalists Douglas Farah and
Stephen Broun in the book "Merchant of Death" that after the Russian
pilots' escape from the Afghan prison, Bout made a contract to supply arms
to the Taliban.
"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.
"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.
The Thai court will meet over new charges against Bout on October 5.
-0-myz/usn