The 43-year-old former Soviet air force officer known as the
“Merchant of Death” faces US 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 commandos, Bout again denied all charges and said claims he was an
international arms dealer were a US “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 Aug. 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, US 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 US-Thai sting operation in which US 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.
