VIKTOR BOUT WINS ANOTHER ROUND AS THAI APPEALS COURT AGREES TO HEAR APPEAL!!

FROM A
DIFFERENT POINT OF VIEW by Monte Friesner .....

~ Financial Crime Consultant for WANTED SA ~

Tuesday October 19, 2010

WANTED SA has just learned that the attorney for Viktor Bout who is facing imminent extradition to face Federal criminal charges in the USA has filed an appeal from the dismissal by the Thai Criminal Court of the second set of criminal charges that were filed against him and the appeal has strangely been accepted.

Surprise! Surprise!!

Since Bout is filing an appeal that is actually against his own interests; it is believed to be a purely dilatory tactic aimed at delaying the proceedings past 20 November when the original Appellate Court Order requiring his extradition expires.

The Court of Appeal of Thailand has accepted his Appellate filing, although he may not have standing to bring it, as reportedly under Thai law; only prosecutors can appeal dismissals of criminal charges.

Are there complicating political aspects to this case?

Where this case is going is anybody's guess; for the Thai Prime Minister is the final authority on extraditions. Whether Thailand gives in to reported USA, or alternatively, Russian pressure; may affect the outcome;

Stay tuned.

Research note: there is apparently a flap going on regarding whether Bout still holds a valid US FAA pilot's license, along with a number of his former cargo pilots, including complaints that Freedom of Information requests made to that agency regarding Bout have resulted in investigations of the entities requesting the information.

What is the USA hiding?

We shall cover this in a subsequent article.

The facts and opinions stated in this article are those of the author and not those of WANTED SA. WANTED SA does not warrant the accuracy of any facts and opinions stated in this article; does not endorse them, and accepts no responsibility for them.