US needs to wait longer
Source: Agencies |
September 4, 2010, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A SUSPECTED Russian arms dealer's extradition to the United States will be delayed at least until October 4 to allow a Thai court to review new charges filed as a precaution by Washington, a judge said yesterday.
The announcement by the Bangkok Criminal Court is the latest blow to Washington, which had expected Viktor Bout's rapid extradition after a Thai appeals court gave its approval on August 20.
Bout, 43, is reputed to be one of the world's most prolific arms dealers.
His high-profile arrest in a 2008 US-led sting operation in Bangkok ended a decade-long chase for the Russian, who has never been prosecuted despite being the subject of United Nations sanctions, a Belgian money-laundering indictment and a travel ban.
After last month's ruling, the US quickly flew a plane to Bangkok to pick up Bout. The move was publicized in Thailand as the latest evidence of heavy US pressure in a case that has turned into a diplomatic tug-of-war between Washington and Moscow.
Experts say Bout, a former Soviet air force officer, has knowledge of Russia's military and intelligence operations and Moscow does not want him to go on trial in the US.
Bout has been indicted in the US on four terrorism-related charges and faces possible life in prison. The charges allege Bout agreed to sell weapons to US agents posing as arms buyers for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia which the US classifies as a terrorist organization. Bout denies the accusations.
The Bangkok Criminal Court in August 2009 rejected an initial US extradition request in a ruling that stunned Washington. The US responded by appealing but also filed new charges against Bout to keep him detained in case the lower court's ruling was upheld.
The announcement by the Bangkok Criminal Court is the latest blow to Washington, which had expected Viktor Bout's rapid extradition after a Thai appeals court gave its approval on August 20.
Bout, 43, is reputed to be one of the world's most prolific arms dealers.
His high-profile arrest in a 2008 US-led sting operation in Bangkok ended a decade-long chase for the Russian, who has never been prosecuted despite being the subject of United Nations sanctions, a Belgian money-laundering indictment and a travel ban.
After last month's ruling, the US quickly flew a plane to Bangkok to pick up Bout. The move was publicized in Thailand as the latest evidence of heavy US pressure in a case that has turned into a diplomatic tug-of-war between Washington and Moscow.
Experts say Bout, a former Soviet air force officer, has knowledge of Russia's military and intelligence operations and Moscow does not want him to go on trial in the US.
Bout has been indicted in the US on four terrorism-related charges and faces possible life in prison. The charges allege Bout agreed to sell weapons to US agents posing as arms buyers for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia which the US classifies as a terrorist organization. Bout denies the accusations.
The Bangkok Criminal Court in August 2009 rejected an initial US extradition request in a ruling that stunned Washington. The US responded by appealing but also filed new charges against Bout to keep him detained in case the lower court's ruling was upheld.
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