Russian Citizen Bout's Defense Preparing Arguments For Early Release Options - Lawyer

Mohammad Ali (@ChaudhryMAli88) Published February 07, 2022 | 05:50 AM

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 07th February, 2022) The defense team of Russian citizen Viktor Bout, who is serving his 25-year sentence in the Marion Federal prison in the US state of Illinois, is preparing arguments for several options for his early release, Bout's lawyer Steve Zissou told Sputnik.

According to Zissou, the defense team continues to build arguments that should become the basis for his release, for each of the possible options, such as transfer to Russia under the convention on the transfer of prisoners, prisoner exchange, or compassionate release.

"The arguments for all of these options are interconnected," Zissou said, explaining that, in the end, it does not matter which option works and that the main thing is that it should result in Viktor's release from prison and his return home.

In 2008, Bout was detained in Thailand on a US government request as a result of a sting operation by US special services. Bout was then transferred to the United States where a court found him guilty of conspiring to kill US citizens and of supporting terrorism.