MOSCOW, June 29 - RAPSI. The Justice Ministry is prepared to file a request for the extradition of businessman Viktor Bout, convicted in the United States, under the Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons, but Bout is not ready to waive his right to appeal, a necessary condition for his extradition, said Bout's attorney Albert Dayan in an interview with the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI/rapsinews.com).

Dayan said that the convention which Russia's Justice Ministry is ready to apply allows the transfer of a prisoner to another country only if the sentence against him has come into effect. Therefore Bout would have to waive his right to appeal.

"Bout is ready to be kept in custody a little longer in order to prove his innocence and he will never resign his right to appeal," his attorney said.

Dayan believes that the appeal may be upheld if it is considered impartially and if the inadvertent mistakes made by the judge during the proceedings are looked into.

Bout was sentenced to 25 years in prison by the New York Federal Court for planning to sell arms to the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces. He has denied the charges against him.