A Russian businessman dubbed the “Merchant of Death” for allegedly arming dictators and warlords said yesterday there was no proof showing he was the world’s biggest arms dealer and accused the US of pressuring Thailand to extradite him.
Viktor Bout, a former Soviet air force officer, also complained of inhumane treatment at a Thai prison that he said was cramped, hot, uncivilized and “worse than Guantanamo.”
The 41-year-old Bout has long been linked to some of Africa’s most notorious conflicts, allegedly supplying arms to former Liberian dictator Charles Taylor and Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi.
He has been jailed in Thailand since his arrest in Bangkok a year ago and is accused of conspiring to arm Colombian rebels.
Bout’s extradition hearing started in June but was repeatedly delayed, with a revolving door of defense attorneys.
There are at least three more hearing dates scheduled for later this month but still no indication of exactly when the process will finish or when a ruling will be made.
Shackled at the ankles with his face pressed against the bars of a holding cell, Bout shouted to reporters ahead of yesterday’s hearing at Bangkok’s Criminal Court.
“If they say I am the biggest arms dealer — so, where is the proof?” Bout asked, calling the accusations against him “lies and rumors.”
“What about human rights? What about the presumption of innocence? What about rule of law?” Bout questioned.
Dressed in an orange prison uniform, Bout yelled at guards who tried to quiet him at several points during a 10-minute exchange with reporters in French, English and Russian.
“Enough! You’ve had one year!” he snapped at a guard. “You can’t deprive me of my freedom of speech.”
The US is seeking the extradition of Bout, who was arrested March 6, last year, at a Bangkok luxury hotel in an elaborate US-led sting operation.
Agents from the US Drug Enforcement Administration posed as rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, looking to buy millions of dollars in weapons.
Bout was charged with conspiracy for allegedly trying to smuggle missiles and rocket launchers to the Colombian rebel group, which is a US-designated terrorist organization.
He was later indicted in the US on four terrorism-related charges, including conspiring to kill US officers or employees. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of life in prison.
“I was arrested not for committing any crime but as a result of ... a frame-up by US intelligence,” Bout said, in a press release distributed by his wife.
When asked by reporters if he felt politics were behind his arrest, Bout shouted, “It’s a theater.”
POLITICAL PRISONERS VS DEPORTEES: Venezuela’s prosecutor’s office slammed the call by El Salvador’s leader, accusing him of crimes against humanity Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Sunday proposed carrying out a prisoner swap with Venezuela, suggesting he would exchange Venezuelan deportees from the US his government has kept imprisoned for what he called “political prisoners” in Venezuela. In a post on X, directed at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Bukele listed off a number of family members of high-level opposition figures in Venezuela, journalists and activists detained during the South American government’s electoral crackdown last year. “The only reason they are imprisoned is for having opposed you and your electoral fraud,” he wrote to Maduro. “However, I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), who took office last year and assumed the PAP leadership, to “bring in new blood, new ideas and new energy” to steer the country of 6 million people. His latest shake-up beats that of predecessors Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), who replaced 24 and 11 politicians respectively
Young women standing idly around a park in Tokyo’s west suggest that a giant statue of Godzilla is not the only attraction for a record number of foreign tourists. Their faces lit by the cold glow of their phones, the women lining Okubo Park are evidence that sex tourism has developed as a dark flipside to the bustling Kabukicho nightlife district. Increasing numbers of foreign men are flocking to the area after seeing videos on social media. One of the women said that the area near Kabukicho, where Godzilla rumbles and belches smoke atop a cinema, has become a “real
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
RSS