Thai Court not accepting Colombia FM letter on Bout case.

25/9 Tass 170

BANGKOK, September 25 (Itar-Tass) -- The Criminal Court of Thailand
refused on Friday to accept for consideration a supplement to the appeal
of the Thai Prosecutor's Office on the judgement passed by the court of
the first instance, which ruled that the demand of the United States on
the extradition to that country of Viktor Bout, a Russian national, should
be rejected. The U.S. authorities accuse Bout of illegal arms trade,
specifically, of arms deliveries to Colombian militants.
The supplement included an official letter of Colombian Foreign
Minister Jaime Bermudez, who urged the Thai authorities "to explain to the
judge handling the case of the Russian national what sort of an
organisation 'the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia' (FARC) is and
how great is the scope of its activities, and not to permit the release of
Viktor Bout - a dangerous international arms dealer."
Previously the Criminal Court of Thailand ruled to reject the U.S.
accusations on seven items. Thailand does not share the opinion that FARC
is a terrorist organisation and regards it as a political one. The
Prosecutor's Office explained its refusal to accept the documents by the
fact that they were submitted far too late.
At the same time, the Court accepted for consideration the protest of
Bout's lawyers against the appeal of the Prosecutor's Office, as well as
of Bout himself. The documents for the trial have been prepared and
forwarded to the Bangkok Court of Appeal. No other documents will be taken
into consideration. A final judgement, not to be appealed against, will be
passed by the Court of Appeal. It will need up to six months for that.
"The official letter sent by the Colombian foreign minister proved
once again that my case is a political one," Bout said in an interview
with Itar-Tass. "In my opinion, the Colombian foreign minister acted at
variance with the diplomatic ethics, because he tried to exert pressure on
the independent court of Thailand."
Commenting on the prospects of the coming trial at the Court of
Appeal, Bout said that "it is difficult to win a victory over Americans,
especially because of the influence they have here."
Speaking about the conditions in which he is kept, Bout said that
nothing changed after August 11, when the Criminal Court refused to
extradite him to the United States. "I am kept in the same cell. I cannot
send letters, and I receive daily newspapers with a two weeks' delay," he
said.
-0-rom/ast