NEW-YORK, July 26 - RAPSI. Russian businessman Viktor Bout intends to seek the reversal of his guilty verdict using all levels of the U.S. judicial framework, right up to the Supreme Court of the United States, Bout's defense attorney Robert Dayan told RIA Novosti after his first meeting with his client in the Illinois prison.
Bout was sentenced to 25 years behind bars 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 posed as the armed forces' commanders. Bout has denied the charges against him.
Russia has stated its readiness to cooperate with the US on transferring Bout to Russia, thus allowing him to serve his sentence there.
The appellate court will be the first instance to review Bout's appeal. This process will take at least a year. If the appeal is dismissed, it will be filed with the highest court in The United States. The Supreme Court will determine at its own discretion whether to accept the appeal.