MOSCOW, July 17 - RAPSI. The U.S. Prosecutor General is looking into the possibility of extraditing Russian citizens serving time in U.S. prisons, Viktor Bout and Konstantin Yaroshenko, to Russia, according to the report of Kathi Lynn Austin, director of the Conflict Awareness Project NGO.
She expressed concern that Bouts extradition would create a threat to security in the world and the United States' interests.
Austin spoke at the United Nations Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty and presented the results of a six-week investigation into the illegal arms supply network in Mauritius with which the two other Russians were involved.
The Justice Ministry has not yet prepared the documents required to extradite alleged arms dealer Viktor Bout from the United States, Justice Minister Alexander Konovalov told journalists on Monday.
Earlier, he said Bout's extradition may be arranged, although it is not likely to be a swift process. Konovalov added that the U.S. authorities hold that any individual convicted in the United States must serve at least half his sentence in a U.S. prison.
Bout was sentenced to 25 years in prison by the New York Federal Court for planning to sell arms to the leftist Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces.
The U.S. agents who dealt with Bout presented themselves as the armed forces' commanders. Bout has denied the charges against him.
Yaroshenko was sentenced to 20 years in prison for colluding in the smuggling of a cocaine shipment to the United States.
Austin was previously contracted as a United Nations expert on arms trafficking.