By Eric Longabardi
Accused Russian arms deal Viktor Bout pleaded not guilty to federal terrorism charges in New York on Wednesday after being extradited and flown to the U.S. from Thailand on Tuesday. Federal prosecutors hailed the extradition of Bout to the U.S. to face a 2008 U.S. indictment alleging he conspired to sell a small army of weapons to Colombian rebels know as F.A.R.C. in a plan to help kill Americans.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov decried the American pursuit of Bout and his extradition from Thailand after a two year long fight telling a reporter in Kenya: "The Russian Foreign Ministry released a statement today with respect to this. We note that, contrary to the two decisions of the criminal court of Thailand, which had found Bout’s guilt unproven, however, by a decision of the Government of Thailand, he was extradited to the US. I consider this an unprecedented political pressure on the judicial process and the Government of Thailand. The whole story is an example of an outrageous injustice. We as a country will continue assisting Viktor Bout as a Russian citizen in every possible way. That’s all I can say."
The Enterprise Report was first to report on the U.S. government's longtime approval and issuance of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) cleared Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) pilot's licenses to Bout and numerous members of his air cargo businesses, despite longstanding allegations and U.S. and U.N. financial sanctions against Bout.
