The wife of suspected Russian arms trader Viktor Bout, who is in Thai custody awaiting extradition to the United States, will appeal to the Russian President on Thursday for help in getting him home.
Alla Bout told RIA Novosti she would read her address at a press conference in Moscow on Thursday.
"I will ask the Russian president for assistance in returning my husband back to Russia," Alla Bout said. "It is clear that if he is extradited to the U.S. there is no hope for a fair trial."
Alla Bout said she would also tell Medvedev about violations committed by U.S. Special Forces during the arrest of her husband. She said Viktor Bout's hotel room was raided without a warrant from a Thai court.
The suspected arms dealer's wife sent an open letter to the Thai prime minister on Monday claiming that her husband was innocent.
Bout, dubbed the Merchant of Death by the international media, was arrested in March 2008 at the request of the United States. His extradition to the United States was ordered by the Thai appeals court on August 20 this year. Bout claims he has never been involved in the arms trade and that there was no evidence of his involvement in the business.
On February 17, the United States brought new charges against Bout, accusing him of violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), a U.S. federal law prohibiting the export of goods, technologies or services that pose an "unusual and extraordinary threat... to the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States."
The charges were passed over to the Thai criminal court two hours before the appeals court reached its verdict on the 2008 accusations. In accordance with Thai law, Bout cannot be extradited to the United States until the second charges are brought to court.
The Thai Prosecutor General's Office received a formal request from the United States on August 31 to drop the second set of charges against Bout.
The Prosecutor General's Office has yet to consider the U.S. request.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called the Thai court's decision to extradite Bout politically motivated, and suggested it was made to please Washington. He said Moscow would seek Bout's repatriation.
MOSCOW, September 22 (RIA Novosti)
