VB’s defense attorney.

We especially like this article as it gets down to the day-to-day lives of the people involved in this landmark case.

link:  https://skypotrol.net/2011/10/14/more-dea-spies-and-lies-opening-statements-in-the-viktor-bout-trial/

In the first day of deliberations in court in New York, what really happened in Bangkok is starting to come out. Indeed the prosecution has insisted that it has “tapes” of Viktor offering to sell weapons. However, what we are seeing now is that DEA agents went to Bangkok to entrap Mr. Bout in its own plot. Remember, the supposed weapons that were allegedly going to be supplied to the FARC were never found, recovered, or otherwise located. Why? Because they never existed. Bout, by all accounts including my own, is a very intelligent man, and knew that the people he was dealing with were up to something. By playing along with their ploy, Bout was going to edge in the sale of his 2 aging cargo planes, a far cry from surface-to-air missiles being used to “kill Americans.”

DEA Expansion

The DEA is allowed to operate in other countries without much restriction. The expansion of the DEA has seen it now have more field offices than the CIA. Bout never dealt in drugs, but he was “arrested” by the Drug Enforcement Agency, a worrying matter that is happening more often in countries around the world.

The Charges

Remember, the charges against Bout are 4 felony counts. Bout never wanted to kill Americans, as it is alleged. Following this logic would allow the DEA or other federal agency to mistreat and imprison anyone it wanted to. By all accounts, Bout was mistreated in Bangkok, threatened, and lied to. What will determine the end verdict is whether or not the jury remembers what the case is all about. One man is being charged with 4 felony counts, and they have to see that the evidence proves that he is guilty. For 3 1/2 years, the evidence has never been enough, so despite any new tapes or anything that come out, I see it unlikely that the evidence will be enough to convict Bout this time.

They Really Want Him

Millions have been spent on “sting operation” resources, travel, and legal costs in the US and in Thailand. Bout has been offered deals multiple times in Thailand and in the US to accept guilt on a single charge, but Bout has kept his composure and his innocence throughout.

The Key Witness

Andrew Smulian, who (if you go read the indictments) is the true person who conspired to try to supply weapons to the FARC, will take the stand soon. Note: he has already pleaded guilty and is cooperating with the Feds. The defense’s ability to show the unreliability of this witness will be key.

The prosecution today brought up the reason why Viktor Bout went all the way to Thailand, which was to sell 2 cargo airplanes. This is in line with what Viktor Bout had done for years past – run a transport company. With emerging markets such as Africa and the Middle East opening up for transport opportunities, Viktor Bout was there. Sharjah, UAE, was the Bout home for a while, and why not? Business-friendly conditions made for a great place for entrepreneurs to jump-start their businesses. After a successful decade or so, VB got out of the business, selling off cargo planes and other assets. Moving into construction and real estate businesses, VB lived a very private life, the result of successful business decisions. With just a couple more planes left to sell, the $5,000,000 in revenue they would have brought was enticing. An old business associate calls up with a deal to liquidate the planes. Bout accepts.

However, the US prosecutors have another story of what happened, detailing a money-hungry, American-hating Bout. Perhaps Bout was actually talking about his “fight” with US authorities, after the US put him on a blacklist years ago.

More later…

…if you are going to be on the jury of this trial. The trial started today in NYC with jury selection, but the judge is likely going to make all members of the jury sign a form promising not to use the Internet to find information on the Viktor Bout legal proceedings.

The monumental court case, years in the making, will begin tomorrow, Tuesday, October 11, 2011 in NYC. Viktor Bout goes on trial for 4 felony counts. We’ll be watching the news closely on this one.

We had hoped to be able to publish the entire Brief History of Viktor Bout’s time in prison in Bangkok, Thailand, but due to lack of support, we have not been able to dedicate the time to the effort.

This site was never funded or backed by anyone other than the writers and reporters involved, and the expense of this is too great for the time being. We all have other jobs that take up substantial amounts of time, and we must now take an indefinite break from this site. We are sad that it has come to this, but by providing a neutral point of view in reporting, we avoid becoming a tool of anyone, but also avoid any financial support we might otherwise receive.

The Viktor Bout website is not gone forever, but we didn’t want it to sit up like this while it was in a state of disrepair. Please check other reputable sources for updates on the Viktor Bout case in Manhattan.

Thanks,

VB Team

Viktor Bout Dot Net has been operating without financial support since we began in 2009. We have never had any intention to make money from this case, which we follow. However, domain registration, hosting, and the content from our writers and researchers is not free. Thus, we are hoping to raise money for the continuation of the website.

We have commissioned a notable illustrator and graphic designer to come up with 3 T Shirt designs to offer followers of Viktor Bout Dot Net. The first one is ready, and features Mr. Viktor Bout himself, re-done in graphic form.

The available colours are Kelly Green and Goldenrod Yellow, with the graphic in black. They are printed on high-quality 100% cotton T Shirts made in Thailand, where Viktor Bout was held in prison for over 2 1/2 years.

This can be considered a donation to the site, and we will have the payment functionality up this weekend. For direct inquiries about the limited edition run of shirts, please email Jeffrey Stevens at Jeff@viktorbout.net and he will give you all the options and details.

To all the readers of Viktor Bout Dot Net, Here is the end of year summary for stats. Apparently, we did pretty well, considering most people just stop their research after reading the Wikipedia entry. Thanks to all those who went a little further – we will have some exclusive information coming out in January in anticipation for the next Viktor Bout / Andrew Smulian hearing in Manhattan, New York on January 10 20011.

Before we look at WordPress’s review, I will give you a quick review of the past year with www.viktorbout.net :  We totally changed the site from a full site to a blog, because we felt it was a better way to provide the relevant information. However, we will come back with an additional page in 2011 providing some of that old info, mixed with some exclusive information we have here at ViktorBout Dot Net.

Also, we are going to start offering limited edition Viktor Bout T Shirts if you make a small donation to the website. We are not trying to make money off of the website, but maintaining it the past year and a half has cost money. Also, the more shirts are given out, the more awareness is raised for the case. That has been the goal of this site since the beginning. We want to get discussion going on the case, and we try not to give a biased report here. Both sides believe that an open discussion is good for the case. Every person who wears this unique shirt will be seen by hundreds if not thousands of people each day. Multiply this by the limited run of shirts (the first run is only 25 pieces) and this shirt will create a buzz and look cool too. We will have the paypal button up this week. These shirts ship from the home base of Viktor Bout Dot Net, Bangkok, Thailand to anywhere in the world.

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 5,800 times in 2010. That’s about 14 full 747s.

In 2010, there were 5 new posts, not bad for the first year! There were 37 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 4mb. That’s about 3 pictures per month.

The busiest day of the year was November 17th with 750 views. The most popular post that day was Guilty or Innocent ?.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were pl.wikipedia.org, en.wikipedia.org, victorbout.net, viktorbout.org, and en.wordpress.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for viktor bout, victor bout, andrew smulian, wikileaks viktor bout, and andrew smulian viktor bout.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

Guilty or Innocent ? September 2010

WikiLeaks Viktor Bout Information Revealed December 2010

Viktor Bout Pleads Not Guilty to 4 Charges – Andrew Smulian Pleads Guilty November 2010
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Case Background September 2010

Pre-Arrest (1990s – 2007) September 2010