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Thai court stalls U.S. bid to extradite Viktor Bout

04 October 2010 22:11 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. Washington’s two-year bid to extradite suspected arms dealer Viktor Bout, inspiration for the Hollywood movie "Lord of War," suffered a setback on Monday when a Thai court dismissed a request to drop new charges against him, APA reports quoting â€œReutersâ€.
The 43-year-old former Soviet air force officer known as the "Merchant of Death" faces U.S. accusations of trafficking arms since the 1990s to dictators and conflict zones in Africa, South America and the Middle East.
Wearing a flak jacket and flanked by nearly three dozen police and commandoes, Bout again denied all charges and said claims he was an international arms dealer were a U.S. "fantasy."
"I am not happy. I want to go home," he told reporters. "I did nothing wrong. I am a victim of political persecution."
An appeals court on August 20 ruled to allow his extradition to the United States, striking a blow to Moscow which had lobbied hard for his release and blasted the verdict as "unlawful."
Ahead of that decision, U.S. prosecutors hastily filed new charges of wire fraud and money laundering in hope of keeping him locked up if the verdict was not in Washington’s favor. Those charges must be formally dropped before he can be extradited.
A verdict on those charges was expected on Tuesday.
Regardless of the outcome, extradition is unlikely soon.
If he is found guilty, his lawyers will likely lodge another appeal. The defense has also said it will seek to have the entire case restarted on grounds the appeals’ court lacked proper authority to order his extradition.
Bout has also petitioned Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to block the extradition. Abhisit has said he would wait for the court’s ruling and make a decision based on Thailand’s national and diplomatic interests.
Thailand is one of Washington’s biggest allies in Asia, but Russia is a big investor in Thailand’s thriving tourism sector.
Bout, inspiration for Nicholas Cage’s character in the 2005 movie "Lord of War," has been held in a Thai maximum-security prison since his arrest in March 2008 during a joint U.S.-Thai sting operation in which U.S. agents posed as arms buyers for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
He says he ran a legitimate air cargo business and was in Bangkok to discuss selling planes when he was arrested, and that his life would be in danger if he was sent to the United States.
Aggressive lobbying by Moscow for his release has fueled speculation he was receiving protection from Russian authorities who had made no apparent attempt over the years to interfere in his alleged operations.