Victor Bout – Arms Dealer Extraordinaire
– The Thai courts refused a request to extradite Viktor Bout (aka The Merchant of Death) to the United States. Bout, an notorious global arms dealer, is accused by the U.S. of attempting to sell more than 700 surface-to-air missiles, a massive cache of automatic weapons, and airplanes and helicopters to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, a Colombian separatist group. FARC is widely considered to be a terrorist organization and major drug trafficker, but not by the Thai government. The Colombian government, which has been at war with FARC for decades, is a chief ally of the U.S. in Latin America.
Thai judge Jittakorn Wattanasin ruled that the extradition treaty does not apply to Bout, because he was not a Thai citizen. Further, since FARC is not an illegal organization in Thailand dealing with them is not illegal; therefore, there is no reason to extradite him. If the Thai prosecutors office does not appeal within 72 hours Bout will go free. Bout claims to be innocent of all charges and until now, has always escaped trial. He was arrested in a 2008 joint Thai-U.S. sting in Bangkok. The Russian government wishes for Bout’s release. Bout is also believed to have sold arms in several conflict areas, often to both sides, in Afghanistan, Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Sudan since the 1990’s. As a result he is wanted by various nations. A character based on Bout was played by Nicholas Cage in the 2005 movie “Lord of War”.
– The Malaysian Information Minister Rais Yatim has stated that it will not use an internet filters but instead, find alternative means to protect its citizens from the scourges of internet pornography, sedition, and fraud. This filter was rumored to be rolled out at the same time Malaysia’s broadband use will double. The opposition contends that the ruling parties are more concerned about the increased number of Malaysia’s who would be exposed to disfavorable information concerning the government than pornography.
