The American newspaper Haffington Post published an article by a well-known American lawyer Robert Amsterdam, who was a legal adviser of the former Prime Minister of Thailand Thaksin Shinawatra, in which he pointed out that America gave up its demands to Thailand to extradite Bout, an international terrorist from the Russian gang of the KGB.
It is to be noted that after America did a deal with Russia, it stopped accusing Bout of supplying weapons to al-Qaeda, Al-Shabaab and the Taliban. Bout now could be not only unneeded for a US court, but even harmful for America.
Amsterdam writes:
"He could likely tell a great deal about the Russian-led networks that continue to arm jihadi movements in Somalia and Yemen. Bout is a picture perfect representation of "one of the men" currently in power in the Kremlin, and say what you will about Putin, he is very loyal to his friends.
The allegations against Bout, which are well documented by Amnesty International, the United Nations, and a number of other NGOs, may yet be outweighed by the complex political considerations, as Russia, the United States, and Thailand assemble to form a Bermuda Triangle of disappearing accountability.
On behalf of the United States, there appears to be some disputes about how much they actually want to receive Bout at this point. We all recall the recent spy swap organized with Russia.
It is time that we understand that we are engaging in a reset with people like Viktor Bout - he is not just some criminal in Russia, he is part of the ruling elite, operating under their instructions. Together, there are just too many players on the board to envision justice being served in this case".
Department of Monitoring
Kavkaz Center
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