A US appeals court in New York upheld Friday the conviction of Russian “merchant of death” arms smuggler Viktor Bout, who was sentenced to 25 years behind bars.
The pursuit of Bout, “a high-priority criminal target, does not demonstrate vindictive, or even inappropriate government conduct,” wrote Judge Jose Cabranes on behalf of a unanimous court.
Bout, imprisoned in the United States, had argued that “the government’s conduct constituted an outrageous or vindictive prosecution in violation of his constitutional right to due process of law.”
He also claimed that his 2010 extradition from Thailand was “was illegal because it was the consequence of coercive political pressure exerted by the United States.”
The court said it found no merit to any of Bout’s claims “and, accordingly, we affirm the judgment of conviction of the District Court.”
“In this case… the government’s motivation to prosecute Bout stemmed from widespread concern that he was engaged in criminal conduct, as evidenced by his placement on numerous United States and United Nations sanctions lists since the early 2000s,” it said.
In April 2012, a US judge sentenced Bout to 25 years in prison for conspiring to sell a massive arsenal to anti-American guerrillas in Colombia.
Accused of selling arms to despots and insurgency groups embroiled in some of the world’s bloodiest conflicts, he was the inspiration for the arms smuggler played by Nicolas Cage in “Lord of War” (2005).
In fact, the mustachioed Russian is widely believed to have been the world’s biggest black market arms dealer in the post-Cold War period, specializing in arming African warlords and dictators.
US agents posing as members of the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, a US-designated terrorist organization, lured Bout to Thailand from his native Russia, where he was under government protection.
In Bangkok, they pretended to be seeking infantry and anti-aircraft missiles to shoot down American pilots helping the Colombian military.
In secretly taped conversations, Bout said he could supply the weapons. However, his lawyer said in court he was playing a charade in order to further his real goal, which was simply to sell two cargo planes.
Moscow condemned Bout’s sentencing last year as “baseless and biased” and said it would do all it could to ensure his return home.
Story: AFP
Photo: Drug Enforcement Administration
