From http://en.rian.ru/world/20110907/166516283.html

NEW YORK, September 7 (RIA Novosti)

A U.S. judge on Wednesday disagreed during a pre-trial hearing with prosecutors who insisted that alleged arms dealer Viktor Bout traded in weapons, saying that he only transported them.
"This was a very positive session for Viktor Bout as the judge rejected two episodes in his case relating to arms sales," Bout's lawyer, Albert Dayan, told RIA Novosti.
Judge Shira Sheindlin also said jurors will have to pledge not to use the internet to look for reports relating to the case.
Russian national Bout, 44, is being held in a New York prison while he awaits trial in October on charges including conspiring to supply arms to terrorist groups and conspiring to kill U.S. nationals. He denies any wrongdoing.
Bout's defense has submitted to court a list of 68 questions for potential jurors. The questions focus on their knowledge of the circumstances surrounding the case, their attitude toward Russia and the arms trade, and their personal experience with violence in order to weed out prejudiced jurors.

Sunday, 13. November 2011 by Sibel Edmonds

Is the "Merchant of Death" a spy, a stooge, or a patsy?

Alleged arms dealer and so-called "Merchant of Death" Viktor Bout was convicted in a Manhattan federal court room earlier this month on charges of conspiracy to kill US citizens. Since his apprehension in Thailand in 2008 in a DEA sting and his subsequent extradition to the US in 2010, few have doubted that prosecutors would convict Bout, who has been deemed one of the world's most-wanted men since a series of reports by the UN Security Council beginning in 2000 accused him of arming dictators, fueling wars and enabling war crimes everywhere from Angola to Somalia to Liberia to Afghanistan.The two major stories on Bout diverge wildly, with the US, the UN Security Council and others accusing Bout of becoming the kingpin of the largest arms smuggling operation in the world, and Bout's defenders claiming it was all a setup. There are indications, however, that Bout is neither the lone wolf criminal mastermind alleged by the prosecutors in his case, nor the innocent patsy in a geopolitical power struggle as alleged by his defenders.This is our EyeOpener Report by James Corbett, presenting lesser known and rarely talked about aspects of Viktor Bout, and delving into questions and the enigma surrounding this labyrinth of illusion.Watch the Preview Here:Watch the Full Video Report Here (Subscribers Only):This Podcast is available to BFP subscription members only. If you are a member, log in to listen. If you are not a member, you can subscribe by clicking on Subscriptions' below.


*The Transcript for this video is available at Corbett Report: Click Here

14

NOV
2011

The Bout Enigma (Eyeopener Preview)

Posted by Corbett



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The Bout Enigma: Is the "Merchant of Death" a spy, a stooge, or a patsy?
by James Corbett
BoilingFrogsPost.com
November 14, 2011
When alleged arms dealer and so-called "Merchant of Death" Viktor Bout was convicted in a Manhattan federal court room earlier this month on charges of conspiracy to kill US citizens, the verdict came as a surprise to few who had been watching the case unfold. Since his apprehension in Thailand in 2008 in a DEA sting and his subsequent extradition to the US in 2010, few have doubted that prosecutors would convict Bout, who has been deemed one of the world's most-wanted men since a series of reports by the UN Security Council beginning in 2000 accused him of arming dictators, fueling wars and enabling war crimes everywhere from Angola to Somalia to Liberia to Afghanistan.
The American media, perhaps unsurprisingly, never fails to mention "Lord of War," the 2005 Nicolas Cage film which is said to be a fictionalized version of Bout's own story, in attempting to describe Bout's case.
But exactly like a Hollywood action movie, Bout's defenders allege that the case against him has been all style and no substance. Instead, they point to this man, Johan Peleman, often billed as a UN expert in illegal arms trading, who Bout's defenders claim invented the charges against him.
From there, they say, the invented tale of the Bout boogeyman was picked up on and furthered by journalists like Douglas Farah and Stephen Braun in their book "Merchant of Death."
There are certain aspects of the Bout case that all sides agree on. That he was born in Tajikistan in 1967. That he had a gift for languages. That he served in the Soviet-era military. And that after the fall of the Soviet Union he moved to Africa, starting his own airline flying cargo into and out of some of the most remote and difficult to access countries in the world.
From that point, the stories diverge wildly, with the US, the UN Security Council and others accusing Bout of becoming the kingpin of the largest arms smuggling operation in the world, and Bout's defenders claiming it was all a setup.
But if Bout is the innocent victim of a vast conspiracy, a mere patsy set up to take the rap for these crimes as his defenders allege, the question is why. Earlier this month, I had the chance to put that question to Bilderberg researcher and bestselling author Daniel Estulin, who spent six months meeting with Bout while he was in custody in Thailand awaiting extradition to the US. According to Estulin, the key to understanding the Bout case is not Bout himself, who he alleges is a pawn in a much larger game, but the players who are positioning the pieces on the board.
There are indications, however, that Bout is neither the lone wolf criminal mastermind alleged by the prosecutors in his case nor the innocent patsy in a geopolitical power struggle as alleged by his defenders. The strange tale of Bout's incredible success in the cargo running business point to another possibility altogether: that Bout was in fact a spy, working for Russian intelligence.
Purveyors of this theory point to Bout's training at the Military Institute of Foreign Languages, a prime recruiting ground for the GRU, the Soviet military intelligence agency. It also explains the easy access to aircraft and military hardware that Bout was said to enjoy, the very thing which gave him his leg up in the first place and allowed him to establish his fleet.
It would also explain the persistent allegations of his ties to the KGB, the Soviet spy agency who, it has been alleged, he was working for in Angola, when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.
A 2003 article in the New York Times painted a portrait of Bout as a protected asset in a much larger operation. It quoted a British arms investigator saying "Bout is encouraged by Western intelligence agencies when it's politically expedient." It quotes the former chief of Ukranian counterintelligence as saying that arms traffickers are either protected or killed: "There's total state control," he said.
Yet another trail of evidence points to a different possibility altogether: that Bout has in fact been working with, and been protected by, high-ranking officials in the US government.
Indeed, a 2004 LA Times report exposed how Bout's companies had been used by US government contractors, including Halliburton subsidiary KBR, even after an Executive Order forbidding such contact. In the 1990s, Bout himself admits to having been hired by the French government to fly French troops in to Rwanda. His companies have also been employed by NATO forces in Afghanistan and the United Nations in Sudan.
Ultimately, the question of who Viktor Bout is, and what role he really played in this alleged arms smuggling, is an enigma. And like every enigma, there is a mystery at its heart, Bout himself, who did not even take to the stand in his own trial. All we have from Bout are extracts that are alleged to have come from his diary, published by a Russian daily last week. In them, Bout compares himself to the protagonist in Kafka's "The Trial," the poor put-upon K., a man who is put on trial for charges he never learns of brought by accusers he never sees.
Perhaps it is fitting that Bout has countered the media's equation of him with Nicholas Cage's fictional character by reference to a different fictional character. But in this labyrinth of illusion, the public, as usual, is asking whether there is any reality behind this fiction, and, if so, how we will ever discover it.

Friday, April 6th, 2012 | Posted by Gordon Duff
Victor Bout Must Be Silenced!

58

Kidnapped and Imprisoned to Silence Him for Dealings With Bush and Israel Over 9/11


…by Gordon Duff, Senior Editor


Victor Bout, the "Lord of War," has been sentenced to 25 years in prison, supposedly for trying to sell two FBI agents "missiles" while he was hiding out in Bangkok.
The same FBI agents were there to interview Dimitri Khalezov, VT staffer who they would also love to silence.
With the massive amount of gun running that is done on the planet, with even western governments supplying rogue groups so they always have an incident de jour' that is just a phone call away, the intense focus on Mr. Bout caught our attention.
He was just not that big a deal to warrant that much heat. We knew of much larger and more dangerous operations being run that seemed to have major political protection.
The operation of selling automatic weapons to the Mexican drug cartels so that they can then be traced was a rare public example of some of the insanity that goes on. In almost every case the screw ups are hidden behind a national security classifications, the only god that is truly worshiped in the Intel world.
Independents do not really operate doing such things in the real world. They are working for somebody big…much bigger…who can protect you from prosecution with the age old get out of jail card: "He's working for us."
The following video shows a cruise type missile hitting the Pentagon. It was taken from a NORAD satellite at great distance. How do we know? We just do.
Bout's conviction is false. His crime is a simple one, he supplied the Bush administration and its Israeli assault team headed by Mike Harari, Mossad Operations Chief, with the missile used to attack the Pentagon on 9/11.
Below find one of the interviews that simply don't exist:

The operational headquarters in Bangkok is also responsible for aiding in the Oklahoma City bombing blamed on Timothy McVeigh, the Bali bombings and other "false flag" terror attacks.
From CNN: KEVIN BARRETT, DIMITRI KHALEZOV AND GORDON DUFF ON TRUTH JIHAD, 2011
Russia has demanded Bout's release. This means that Putin, despite his public pronouncements otherwise, is fully aware that Bush and Israel are responsible for 9/11. Bout only supplied the weapon, he didn't plan the attack.
He simply thought he was doing an arms deal with Israel and the United States, the same thing he had been doing for years. This was his job and these were his actual clients.

There was no "sting operation" involving Columbia and Stinger missiles, the whole thing was entirely invented. Bout was detained on US demand to be silenced as he had spoken to too many people about how he resented being involved in 9/11.
Bout is innocent of any crime and the real criminals are living in safety and luxury though Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and others are not free to travel as they face arrest for war crimes involved in the illegal attack on Iraq.
VT correspondent and former member of the Soviet 12 Nuclear Directorate, Dimitri Khalezov has confirmed his meetings with Mike Harari of the Mossad. He was with Harari and his son at a celebration of the 9/11 attack on September 12, 2001 in Bangkok.
Harari took full credit for planning the attack and spoke openly of it during the celebration, a breakfast in Bangkok.
Our VT correspondent took down every word and, in 2007, made a full and detailed report of this and the Bali bombing to FBI agents.
The agents admitted they were aware that 9/11 was an "inside job" and knew Harari was involved, admitted they had known for years.
Bout stated that a Granit missile, a Soviet cruise type missile was sold to the US for the Pentagon attack. Films of the attack made by NORAD satellite show a missile but it is impossible to differentiate between a Granit or one of the American varieties.

"LORDS OF WAR" TRAILER, FILM BASED ON THE LIFE OF VICTOR BOUT

We have had nearly 30% of our writing staff put on terror watch lists, funny thing, lists that companies we work with operate, imprisoned, illegally held in military psychiatric facilities or worse.
Reporting the news has always been difficult but now it is treated as an act of criminality.
We want the American government to release Dr. Aafia, Victor Bout and the thousands of "prisoners of economic convenience" that are still being held after Bush era kidnappings under the phony "war on terror."
We would also like to see the real parties responsible for the Pentagon attack arrested, even if it doesn't leave a single republican out of prison.
As for Victor Bout, he is in jail for 25 years to silence him on 9/11. We know this, we can prove it and now you know it. Do you hear me Mr. President?
Editing: Jim W. Dean … A present below to our special' readers as a thank you from Veterans Today. This is a piece of history for your permanent files. Such things are not easy to come by. But we have many, so we thought we should share.

Saturday, April 7th, 2012 | Posted by Stephen Lendman

Viktor Bout: Victimized by US Injustice

[/url][url=http://www.veteranstoday.com/2012/04/07/viktor-bout-victimized-by-us-injustice/#]4

by Stephen Lendman

On February 17, 2010, the US Justice Department indicted Bout and Richard Ammar Chichakli "for allegedly conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act ("IEEPA") stemming from their efforts to purchase two aircraft from companies located in the United States, in violation of economic sanctions which prohibited such financial transactions."
Other charges included "money laundering conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy, and six separate counts of wire fraud, in connection with these financial transactions."
In March 2008, he was originally charged with conspiring to kill Americans by "selling millions of dollars worth of weapons to Colombia-based narco-terrorists." Other charges were then added, including selling weapons to Al Qaeda and the Taliban.
An unsealed superseding indictment alleged "the extraordinary breadth of (his) criminal enterprise."
America's criminal justice system notoriously manufactures spurious "evidence" to indict, prosecute, convict, and imprison. When evidence doesn't exist, it's invented. America's gulag is filled with thousands of wrongfully incarcerated victims.
Most are Black, Latino, or Muslims. Occasionally someone like Bout is targeted for political and/or other reasons. Washington called him the "Merchant of Death" and "Lord of War."
Hyperbole substitutes for facts. Juries are intimidated to convict. Right-wing judges go along. America's criminal justice system's corrupted. Targeted victims rarely have a chance.
In Bout's case, their was no plot, no crime, and no intent to commit one. Nonetheless, he was lawlessly entrapped to make it look that way.
On November 2, 2011, Bout was convicted of conspiring to sell weapons to Colombia's FARC-EP. The State Department spuriously designated it a "foreign terrorist organization."
The Justice Department said "He aimed to sell weapons to terrorists for the purpose of killing Americans. With today's swift verdict, justice has been done, and a very dangerous man will be behind bars." The DEA was thanked for its helped. Another innocent man was framed.
He faced 25 years to life. Prosecutors asked for the maximum. Late Thursday, US District Judge Shira Scheindlin gave him the minimum mandatory 25 year sentence. His Russian lawyer Viktor Burobin said he's wrongfully characterized as an "enemy of the American people." He's nothing of the sort.
Bout insists he's innocent. He said charges against him were fabricated. He accused media scoundrels of repeating "sensationalist and irresponsible coverage of his case."
He ran a legitimate air cargo business. He said everything he did was legal. A lawless Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) sting entrapped him. He hopes Russian authorities will intervene on his behalf. They've tried but need to do more. Otherwise he'll do hard time and rot like other US injustice victims.
Bout's Background
A Russian businessman, he claims malicious lies were manufactured about him. He blames a UN official. He arranged contracts for Bout's companies. He then helped sell him out.
Last October, Russia Today headlined, "Rigged trial a final step toward bars for Bout?" saying:
His family expected no fairness. In 2008, Washington got Thai authorities to arrest and hold him. In November 2010, they were pressured to extradite him to America. They knew he was innocent but yielded anyway.
Bout said America falsely claimed he was a billionaire and illegal arms dealer. He's no billionaire or even rich after his ordeal. In fact, he ended up in debt. He insists he "never traded in weapons." Media scoundrels regurgitated official lies with no evidence beyond what prosecutors claim.
Douglas Farah wrote about his case in his book titled, "Merchant of Death." He ran his business legally. Farah, however, repeated prosecutorial lies. In August 2008, he even lied to Congress. Maybe he wanted to sell books and/or cash in by cooperating with authorities.
Ironically, Washington at one time was one of Bout's largest customers. Now they want him imprisoned for life.
He was set up, entrapped, and framed. No legitimate evidence exists against him. Everything claimed was falsified. He was targeted in summer 2004. He operated mostly in Africa and Eurasia. His business dominated his areas of concentration.
The CIA wanted to control arms trafficking on the continent, and monopolize air transport for it. Bout stood in the way. He had to go. The scheme involved transforming a legitimate businessman and US supplier into an illegal arms trafficker and "Lord of War."
They did it with no evidence of weapons, missiles, explosives, or other implements of war. Authorities only had what DEA agent Derek Odney claimed, and he was part of the scheme to frame Bout. He unsuccessfully tried to bribe a Russian intelligence official in return for help getting him extradited to America.
No weapons existed. No money changed hands. No evidence whatever exists except what Washington manufactured to indict and convict him. In the process, they destroyed his business, reputation, and life by assuring his imprisonment unless Russia's able to apply enough pressure to free him.
A spurious post-9/11 Johan Peleman UN report led to his downfall, business collapse, indictment, and conviction. Allegedly Peleman was well paid for his services. At issue again was the CIA wanting him out of the way to conduct their own activities freely.
It shouldn't surprise as America's involved in these type shenanigans globally. People are enlisted to help, then discarded when no longer needed, or in Bout's case, maliciously framed to destroy him.
Like CIA, the DEA runs its own global intelligence and surveillance network. It extends well beyond elicit drugs. It blurs the line between the two agencies.
In Thailand, DEA agents posed as FARC-EP operatives. They recorded conversations manipulated to sound like Bout wanted to sell them weapons.
Enough tapes can be spliced and diced to say anything. Prior to his entrapment, Bout did no business in Latin America. That alone proved something rotten. He operated in Africa and Eurasia, besides doing business with Washington.
Twice Thai courts exonerated him for lack of evidence. Yet he was held and extradited to America. It was extraordinary rendition Thailand-style.
Reports suggested Obama personally pressured its government to cooperate. Getting Bout out of the way meant that much. Reportedly, Washington spent $100 million to do it. It shows how low America stoops, won't take no for an answer, and cost doesn't matter to frame another victim.
International law was trashed. Bout's rights were denied. Extraditing him was illegal. So was indicting and convicting him. Juries fed falsified information are intimidated to go along.
The scenario repeats against numerous framed defendants. It's simple when terrorism's alleged or conspiracy to commit it. Most often, juries won't risk freeing someone perhaps guilty even if not sure. Perhaps they feel better safe than sorry. They don't know they were duped.
Moreover, when defendants Washington wants framed are exonerated, they face new charges enough times until convicted.
Bout was a successful businessman. He began from scratch. He operated legally. His air cargo company transported everything from oil to eggs. At times, legal weapons as well for clients like America. Among other destinations, he shipped them to Afghanistan and Iraq. He also worked with the UN in Sudan.
Earlier, when civil wars wracked Africa, other cargo companies left, but he stayed. It paid off handsomely until Washington destroyed all he built.
Imperial lawlessness ravages what gets in its way. It's the American way.
A Final Comment
On April 6, Russia Today reported on Judge Scheindlin's sentencing, saying:
"His defense plans to appeal to the Supreme Court" if necessary. It won't help. US courts, especially federal ones, are dominated by Federalist Society judges. When Washington targets someone for conviction, they go along.
Their right-wing agenda includes, rolling back civil liberties; defiling human rights; ending New Deal social policies; opposing reproductive choice, government regulations, labor rights, and environmental protections; as well as subverting justice in defense of privilege.
The Supreme Court won't likely touch Bout's case. At the appellate level (and High Court if it surprises), hard-right judges will swallow him whole or chew him up and spit him out unjustly.
That's the reality he faces. His only chance is effective Russian intervention. Its only chance perhaps is grabbing a valued American, putting him or her through the same ordeal, then arranging a prisoner swap. It wouldn't be the first time because it works.
Scheindlin's sentence added five years of supervised release. Bout's also ordered to forfeit $15 million and pay a $400 special assessment. Reports are he's broke, so tacking on fines and forfeits may be more rhetoric than reality.
His US lawyer Albert Dayan and Russian one Viktor Borobin said conviction didn't end his case. In two weeks or less, they'll appeal to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. It'll take months to be heard and months more for a ruling.
In the meantime, Judge Scheindlin recommended Bout be kept in the general prison population, not isolation. His treatment's been so harsh and unjust all along, expect little change now.
Under optimum circumstances, his liberating struggle will be protracted, painful, and against long odds for success.
Like thousands of others wrongfully imprisoned in America's gulag, he deserves much better, but won't likely get it.

I've been following Viktor Bout's case for a few years, and I'm glad to see that people here've been talking about it. Sorry I've been busy and *trying* to take a vacation - haven't been active in discussions. Hopefully once I'm back in the US...


Here is an extensive (almost) all-in-one file on Viktor Bout: http://www.coverthistory.com/2012/04/08/...892-pages/
A collection of individual documents on Viktor Bout: http://www.scribd.com/collections/3566220/Viktor-Bout

And two short pieces I recently wrote on Viktor Bout:
In Defense Of Viktor Bout http://www.coverthistory.com/2012/04/10/...ktor-bout/
Quick Proof of Deceit in the Case Against Viktor Bout: http://www.coverthistory.com/2012/04/08/...ktor-bout/


Here's an extensive file on Richard Chichakli as well: http://www.coverthistory.com/2012/04/10/...chichakli/

I've dug up a few more papers on Chichakli, and hope to have them uploaded later today or tomorrow.

Cheers! I'll try to check back in on this thread, but with so much stuff going on right now...

Daniel Burnet Wrote:I've been following Viktor Bout's case for a few years, and I'm glad to see that people here've been talking about it. Sorry I've been busy and *trying* to take a vacation - haven't been active in discussions. Hopefully once I'm back in the US...


Here is an extensive (almost) all-in-one file on Viktor Bout: http://www.coverthistory.com/2012/04/08/...892-pages/
A collection of individual documents on Viktor Bout: http://www.scribd.com/collections/3566220/Viktor-Bout

And two short pieces I recently wrote on Viktor Bout:
In Defense Of Viktor Bout http://www.coverthistory.com/2012/04/10/...ktor-bout/
Quick Proof of Deceit in the Case Against Viktor Bout: http://www.coverthistory.com/2012/04/08/...ktor-bout/


Here's an extensive file on Richard Chichakli as well: http://www.coverthistory.com/2012/04/10/...chichakli/

I've dug up a few more papers on Chichakli, and hope to have them uploaded later today or tomorrow.

Cheers! I'll try to check back in on this thread, but with so much stuff going on right now...

Wow! What a treasure trove! You HAVE been working on this 'case' for a while! Please DO return soon! Welcome to the DPF!!!

Russia Seeks Repatriation of Bout
http://www.coverthistory.com/2012/04/12/...aroshenko/

Hopefully I'll be able to upload a few more documents today; I wasn't able to get anything done yesterday due to a massive migraine, so today is a catch-up day.

A dozen documents on Viktor Bout related companies, courtesy of Richard Chichakli: http://www.coverthistory.com/2012/04/14/...documents/

I'm enjoying these documents Daniel. Thanks for posting them :rocker: