American basketball player Brittney Greiner was traded for Viktor Bout, a Russian convicted in the United States for arms trafficking.
The United States and Russia, despite a low point in relations between the two countries, have agreed to a prisoner exchange. One of the biggest arms dealers, Russian Viktor Bout, was traded for American basketball player Brittney Griner, who was jailed for vape cartridges containing medical marijuana. As they say, feel the difference.
Who is Viktor Bout
Booth is a former military man who served in the Soviet military transport aviation. After being transferred to the reserve in 1991, he went into business – as he himself claimed, in the field of international air transport.
He was arrested in Bangkok in March 2008 on a warrant issued by US authorities. He was charged by the New York District Attorney’s Office with complicity in a criminal conspiracy to provide weapons to members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia “with the understanding that they would be used to kill US citizens and officials.” “
Thai authorities granted the US request for Russian extradition 2.5 years later, in November 2010. The Russian Foreign Ministry protested against Bout’s extradition to the United States, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called the actions of the Thai authorities as a result of US political pressure and “an example of blatant injustice.”
Some experts have suggested that Bout, who became known in the 1990s for flying Soviet transport vehicles over several “hot spots” in Africa, is useful to Russian intelligence, and that Moscow is very reluctant to see who stood trial in the United States.
Along with supplying weapons to FARC militants, Bout is suspected in the United States, Belgium and several other Western countries of fueling bloody conflicts in countries such as Sierra Leone, Angola, Rwanda and Sudan.
He is considered the prototype of the hero of the Hollywood film The Lord of War, played by Nicolas Cage. The Western press called Bout the “merchant of death.”
In the United States, Bout was sentenced to 25 years in prison without parole until January 2030.
All these years, the Russian authorities have been trying to achieve the release of Bout. The media wrote a lot about possible options for his exchange for one of the Americans convicted in Russia, but these reports were not confirmed.
Who is Brittney Griner?
So far, two-time Olympic champion Brittney Griner has not been imprisoned in Russia.
Greiner was charged with drug smuggling for medical marijuana legalized in the US and sentenced to nine years in prison.
US President Joe Bylen has spoken to Greiner.
The joint efforts of the President of the United Arab Emirates and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia helped reach an agreement on the exchange of Bout and Greiner, the two monarchies said in a joint statement.
According to Russian human rights commissioner Tatiana Moskalkova, both Bout and Greiner were pardoned before the exchange.
Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.