Bout’s lawyer said that he would appeal against his 25 year sentence.
The nickname “Merchant of Death” was bestowed on Bout by Peter Hain, the
former Foreign Office minister, who said of him: “Bout is the leading
merchant of death who is the principal conduit for planes and supply routes
that take arms… from East Europe, principally Bulgaria, Moldova and
Ukraine to Liberia and Angola.
“The UN has exposed Bout as the centre of a spider’s web of shady arms dealers,
diamond brokers and other operatives, sustaining the wars.”
In a pre-sentencing memo, prosecutors said: “Although Bout has often described
himself as nothing more than a businessman, he was a businessman of the most
dangerous order.
“Transnational criminals like Bout who are ready, willing and able to arm
terrorists transform their customers from intolerant ideologues into lethal
criminals who pose the gravest risk to civilised societies.”
Albert Dayan, Bout’s attorney, wrote in a letter to the judge claiming that
the United States had targeted him because the White House was embarrassed
that his companies had helped deliver goods to US military contractors
during the Iraq war.
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