Who is Viktor Bout, the ‘Merchant of Death’ the US might trade for Brittney Griner?
As a “political edict,” the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced Bout’s conviction. During the trial, Bout’s attorneys alleged that he was a political prisoner. Alla Bout, Bout’s wife, later remarked that the trial was correctly handled by the court. All American gun store owners “who are sending weapons and ultimately end up killing Americans”…
As a “political edict,” the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced Bout’s conviction. During the trial, Bout’s attorneys alleged that he was a political prisoner. Alla Bout, Bout’s wife, later remarked that the trial was correctly handled by the court.
All American gun store owners “who are sending weapons and ultimately end up killing Americans” would be jailed if the same standards were applied to everyone, claims Bout.
In June 2013, Bout’s co-conspirator Richard Ammar Chichakli was extradited to New York on charges of planning to purchase jets in violation of economic restrictions.
Despite Bout’s assertion that he was the victim, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York upheld his conviction in September 2013.
Who is Viktor Bout, the ‘Merchant of Death’ the US might trade for Brittney Griner?
Viktor, a Russian arms dealer, was born on January 13, 1967. When the Soviet Union fell apart in the 1990s and early 2000s, this businessman and former Soviet military translator is accused of using his numerous air transport companies to smuggle weapons from Eastern Europe to Africa and the Middle East. Due of his allegedly extensive activities, significant clientele, and willingness to violate embargoes, Bout earned the nicknames “Merchandiser of Death” and “Sanctions Buster.”
