Convicted arms dealer asks Russia to sue US
April 13th, 2012 - 12:09 am ICT by IANSMoscow, April 12 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who has been sentenced to 25 years in an American jail, called on Russia Thursday to file a lawsuit against the US and Thailand at the International Court of Justice.
“I would like to use this opportunity to ask Duma lawmakers to push for Russia to file a lawsuit to the International Court against the United States and Thailand over what has happened to me,” Bout said during a video link between Washington and Moscow.
Last week, a US court sentenced Bout to 25 years in jail for conspiring to kill American citizens and sell arms to Colombian militants. Bout still maintains his innocence.
Bout called for a special commission to be set up at the Duma to “establish facts and the truth” about his arrest in Thailand in March 2006 as a result of a sting operation in which US informants posed as Colombian rebels, his subsequent extradition to the US and his trial.
Bout’s wife Alla said during the video link that “four petitions addressed to (Russian Foreign Minister) Sergei Lavrov have been filed to the foreign ministry” on her husband’s behalf, concerning the appeal at the International Court of Justice.
She, however, said she was not sure about the outcome of their initiative “because there has been no such precedent” in Russian history.
–IANS/RIA Novosti
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Tags: american citizens, american jail, colombian rebels, court of justice, extradition, foreign minister, foreign ministry, informants, innocence, international court of justice, lawmakers, petitions, ria novosti, russian arms, russian history, sergei lavrov, sting operation, video link, viktor bout, vm