Select language:

Viktor Bout’s attorneys hope for case revision in US Supreme Court

 / Главная / Russkiy Mir Foundation / News / Viktor Bout’s attorneys hope for case revision in US Supreme Court

Viktor Bout’s attorneys hope for case revision in US Supreme Court


22.02.2017

Photo: barnaul-altai.ru

The attorneys of Viktor Bout passed a petition to the Supreme Court of the United States requesting to avoid the sentence, according to TASS. The petition is to be delivered within a day from Texas to the US capital where Mr. Bout is serving his sentence.

According to Bout’s attorney Alexey Tarasov, the sentence to his defendant was lawless. Due to newly discovered circumstances, the sentence is to be banned and the case is to be sent for revision.

The new information implies that British Andrew Smulyan who was named in the case as Bout’s accomplice appeared to be an undercover agent of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. It means that Bout could not enter into the criminal conspiracy with him.

The court believes that this information is new in the case and was received from a disinterested party. The prosecutors were aware of that and they should have provided this new information to the attorneys according to the law, however, it has not been done.

Tarasov reminds that US Supreme Court agrees to revise only few cases and if an attorney is involved, it is about only 5 percent of appeals’ total number.

Besides, Alexey Tarasov added that Mr. Bout’s case influenced the judicial cooperation between Russia and America immensely.

According to information service of Russkiy Mir foundation, more than four years ago Russian entrepreneur Viktor Bout was pleaded guilty of criminal conspiracy of weapons sale and aiding terrorism and sentenced to 25 years in prison. He was also fined for 15 million US dollars.

Russkiy Mir 

News by subject

Publications

Italian entrepreneur Marco Maggi's book, "Russian to the Bone," is now accessible for purchase in Italy and is scheduled for release in Russia in the upcoming months. In the book, Marco recounts his personal odyssey, narrating each stage of his life as a foreigner in Russia—starting from the initial fascination to the process of cultural assimilation, venturing into business, fostering authentic friendships, and ultimately, reaching a deep sense of identifying as a Russian at his very core.