Face to Face with Viktor Bout: Court Room Conversations

by G. Alexander on October 10th, 2010

Last Monday, on October 4 2010 in the Honorable Royal Thai court in Bangkok, I w
as eye to eye and face to face with Viktor Bout.
Viktor Bout wearing a bullet-proof vest amid concerns for his safety.
Court Room Conversations
Viktor Bout arrived to and from the court house donning a bullet-proof vest amid
concerns for his safety. He also had a S.W.A.T. team escort him from the prison
all the way to the court room. Fortunately for me, the security inside the cour
t room was less stringent. I did not notice any armed security personnel inside
the court room. When I left the court room briefly I noticed that the S.W.A.T. t
eam was waiting outside. They did not re-appear inside the court room until afte
r the proceedings where finished.
Dimitri Khalezov, author of the 911thology, as well as Bout’s DE-facto attorney an
d family friend led me to the very front row where Viktor Bout sat flanked by hi
s devoted wife Alla. Viktor Bout speaks fluent English with no trace of a Russia
n accent. Not surprising since he is a linguist. He is very articulate, well-spo
ken, surprisingly well composed for a man in his present circumstances and extre
mely intelligent and least of not all, polite. He thanked me for the article tha
t I recently wrote titled, The Assassination of Viktor Anatoliyevich Bout which
describes how the media has assassinated his character. Bout told me, “it is nice
to see that there are still some free-thinkers that are not brainwashed by the m
edia.” We then talked briefly about some personal matters before I was told to ret
urn to my seat.
No Media Circus
Unfortunately I have spent far too much time inside U.S. court rooms than I woul
d have liked. However, I was utterly shocked by the lack of U.S. media and how l
ow keyed the atmosphere was inside the court room. Being familiar with the alleg
ations, depictions and alleged charges as well as reading an abundance of media
articles concerning the case, I thought I was in the wrong court room. Frankly,
I was expecting a media circus like I have witnessed so many times before in the
States. I have seen much more commotion and attention at divorce hearings in Am
erica.
Was this really the court case of the notorious ‘Merchant of Death’ and ‘Lord of War’? I
was in shock, if I did not know what was happening I would have thought that it
was an insignificant, low profile and simple legal case. It is almost as if the
prosecutors intentionally wanted to keep a low profile and quickly snatch Vikto
r Bout to America before more people become aware of the illegalities and improp
rieties of this strange and very Curious Case of Viktor Bout.
Puppet-Show
I am vaguely familiar with Thai court proceedings and they are much different th
an U.S. court procedures but the court room schematics reminded me of an orchest
rated puppet-show. Every thing appeared to be predetermined and fixed. For insta
nce, Viktor Bout’s translator could not speak understandable English and Bout aske
d the judge repeatedly again and again for a Russian translator. Understandably
of course, for several reasons, firstly his freedom was at stake, secondly Russi
an is his native language and lastly because the translator could not be underst
ood and by all accounts was not qualified to be an English translator. The judge
denied him a Russian translator which Bout said “was his legal right in Thai cour
t.”
I thought that with a case of this magnitude an importance that they would delay
or postpone the court session until a qualified translator could be obtained. H
owever, the judges adamantly insisted on continuing with the session despite Vik
tor Bout’s obvious concerns and protest’s.
More Court Room Conversations
Later in the court session when the judges left the room to discuss the case in
private, I sat in the row directly behind Viktor and Alla Bout less than 12 inch
es away. To my right in the same row were two international journalists, Thilo T
hielke from Der Spiegel and Kurt Pelda from Die Weltwoche.
Viktor told me face to face (as he has proclaimed continually from day one of hi
s arrest) from his own mouth, “that he is innocent and that he is being set up. Th
at he ran a legitimate and legal transport company.”
Bout also sarcastically commented on the court procedures, asking “is this a judic
ial system or a theater?”
Bout also expressed concerns about receiving a fair trial if extradited to the U
.S. and told me that he does not have any money to pay for a legal defense team
to even allow him a fair trial.
Viktor Bout expressed pessimism in a letter he wrote from the prison dubbed the ‘B
angkok Hilton’ on the eve of his possible extradition. According to an article by
Der Spiegel, Bout’s letter stated, “The Americans have ways to get anyone to talk. P
erhaps they’ll torture me with chemical substances, or perhaps they’ll stick me in a
camp like Guantanamo. At any rate, I won’t get a fair trial in the United States.”
Bout ends the letter with these ominous words: “If I die in prison, it won’t be a na
tural death.”
You Got Mail (but only in English)
When a reporter asked Viktor Bout if he is allowed to read books and to receive
mail in prison, Bout replied “yes but only in English.” Viktor Bout then elaborated,
“a copy of everything he receives is sent to the U.S. Embassy. Since they do not
understand Russian, I am only allowed to receive mail and other reading material
s in English.”
This is not only unethical but also a human rights violation and I am not a lawy
er but certainly appears to be illegal. Nonetheless, it shows that the Thai lega
l system is certainly cooperating and giving in to whatever demands the U.S. gov
ernment ask of it. This is no different than a U.S. citizen being imprisoned in
Russia, and only being allowed to receive mail and other reading material’s in Rus
sian and then a copy of everything he receives is sent the the Thai Embassy in M
oscow.
Granit missile
AK-47′s, C-4 explosive, UAV’s, Kursk Submarines and Granit Missiles
The principal charges filed against Viktor Bout are “conspiracy with the intent to
kill American citizens” and the “support of a foreign terrorist organization.”
Let’s back up. No money ever changed hands between the D.E.A. (who posed as member
s of F.A.R.C.) and Viktor Bout. For the record, posing as a person or organizati
on that you do not belong to or represent is illegal in Thai law and inadmissibl
e in court. Furthermore, there is absolutely no proof or physical evidence of an
y kind. No weapons or missiles were found therefore no transaction took place an
d Viktor Bout has never been to the U.S.
Next the prosecutors will be blaming Viktor Bout for firing the Granit missile t
hat struck the Pentagon on September 11, 2001 that was stolen from the Kursk sub
marine (which was sunk by a collision with the SSN 691 Memphis in August 2000) w
hich in turn caused the U.S. government to panic and then to press the buttons t
o cause the underground nuclear detonation of World Trade Center 1, World Trade
Center 2 and World Trade Center 7; thus blaming Bout for those deaths of America
ns that died on that tragic day.
Kursk submarine
Sounds preposterous, outrageous and far-fetched? Ironically, the latter paragrap
h has much more truth than the former.
(For those interested in 9/11 theories, government cover-ups or who are simply s
eeking the truth, Dimitri Khazelov, a former Russian nuclear intelligence office
r, explains in full-detail, step-by-step with physics what actually happened. It
is by far, the most provocative, prohibited and proven 9/11 video as well as hi
s book 911thology.)
It is no more far-fetched or as ludicrous as the current charges of terrorism an
d intent to murder US citizens that are currently filed against Bout for alleged
ly agreeing to sell weapons to F.A.R.C. That would eventually be used to kill Am
ericans. That is the testimony according to D.E.A. agents Derek Odney and Andrew
Smullian.
Double Standard or Simply No Standard?
According to documents that I have obtained and that are public record, the D.E.
A. agents that were major players in the Bout sing operation are Robert Zaharias
evich, Derek Odney, Christine A. Hanley and last but not least Andrew Smulian. I
ronically, the D.E.A. agents violated Thai law in their quest to set up Viktor B
out. The agents violated Thai law by breaking and entering into Bout’s hotel room
without a search warrant after the Thai police refused to do it.
Viktor Bout is a citizen of the Russian Federation, who is being charged for a c
rime, but has not committed any crime in America or Thailand. According to my co
nversations to Alla Bout, “he has never been to America.” Despite this the U.S. are
trying desperately to extradite Viktor Bout by ‘any means necessary’.
The attacks in Mumbai alleged to be master-minded by David Headley
Another interesting case is that of David Headley, a U.S. citizen who allegedly
masterminded the Mumbai terror attacks dubbed 26/11 by the Indian authorities. A
team of investigators from the National Investigation Agency (N.I.A.) went to t
he U.S. to question Headley and were sent back to India by the F.B.I. without be
ing able to question him. Headley’s extradition request was also denied by U.S. of
ficials, even though he is accused of committing terrorist acts directly on Indi
an soil.
These are two separate and distinct cases but they both involve extradition and
are both contradictory. The U.S. prosecutors want Bout very badly because the ca
se has become political. Also if the case is not won, it will cause embarrassmen
t since the U.S. government has been spending taxpayers money for many years to
build its case against Bout. Headley, on the other hand, will not be extradited
from the U.S. to India because he is a former D.E.A. agent turned double-agent w
orking for the C.I.A / I.S.I.
The point I am trying to make is that in extradition cases, the U.S. has consist
ently shown a pattern of bending, twisting and sometimes breaking the law to mee
t its own needs and obtain the desired outcome that it wants.
Circus Clowns
Viktor Bout left me, according to him, with a famous Russian saying, translated
into English of course because my Russian is slightly better than my Thai. Bout
said, “the circus is gone but the clown’s still remain.” He was referring to the biase
d, illegal court proceedings that have detained him for over two and half years
and that have separated him from his wife Alla and their sixteen year old daught
er Elizabeth.
Credits:
Dimitri Khalezov
Further Reading:
SHADOW MASTERS by Daniel Estulin

The most provocative, prohibited and proven 9/11 video:

911thology by Dimitri Khalezov