BANGKOK, September 19 - RAPSI. The Thailand court will hold on Monday its second hearing to review the case of Viktor Bout, a Russian accused of illegal weapons trafficking, according to court documents.
Defense attorneys of Viktor Bout who was arrested in Thailand in 2008 and extradited to the United States in November 2010, claim that his extradition was unlawful as the prison authorities were not authorized to hand Bout over to special police for further delivery to US agents.
In addition, the defense believes that the Bout's rights were violated since he was extradited secretly and neither his family, nor his attorney or the Russian Embassy in Bangkok was notified of the extradition.
The United States charged Bout with conspiring to kill Americans, illegal surface-to-air missile trafficking, and supporting terrorism through cooperation with the Colombian guerilla organization FARC.
Bout was arrested in Bangkok in the result of the U.S. security service operations. American agents introduced themselves as FARC leaders and asked Bout to sell them shoulder fired surface-to-air missile systems for destroying US helicopters in Colombia. Thailand police arrested Bout at the US request during the negotiations.