The secret of "lawlessness"

The angry Philippics, wasteful by Moscow, on the occasion of the Extradition of the "weapons baron" Viktor Buta from Thailand to the United States, clearly go beyond the diplomatic protocol and borders on public tantrums. “This whole story is a model of glaring injustice,” says Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. According to him, the Thai government decided to issue "contrary to the two decisions of the Criminal Court of Thailand, who pleaded the guilt of V. Buta unproven."

In a similar tone, the statement of the Russian Foreign Ministry is also designed, which says : "From the point of view of the law, the incident cannot have a rational explanation and justification." The Foreign Ministry believes that "illegal extradition of V.A. Buta is a consequence of unprecedented political pressure" and that this step of Bangkok "calls into question the independence of the Thai judicial system and decisions made by the Thai authorities."

The Minister Lavrov, apparently, had unscrupulous advisers who, either by negligence, or deliberately misled him.

No egregious lawlessness in Buta did not occur. But the paradoxical legal conflict really took place.

On August 20 of this year, the Thai appeal court abolished the decision of the lower court, which did not see in the case of the Butit of the crime, and decided to extradite it for three months on charges of supporting terrorism. This accusation was brought by Butu after the agents of the American intelligence agencies, posing as representatives of the Levoradic Colombian group of FARC, lured the "death merchant" to Bangkok in March 2008 to agree on the supply of weapons. Instead of a profitable transaction, Bout received a couple of handcuffs and a prison camera. FARC is listed in the register of terrorist organizations drawn up by the US State Department, and its accomplices are subject to criminal prosecution in accordance with American law.

However, earlier the American side, wanting to strengthen its position in the eyes of the Thai court, was charged with Butu’s laundering and fraud. These actions forced Bangkok to postpone extradition. The case returned to the criminal court to study additional charges. In early October, court hearings began .

Thai state prosecutors asked the court to leave new charges without consequences. The court did so, which was immediately followed by the protest of the defense of But, who accused the court of violating the Code of Criminal Procedure of Thailand.

It would seem that the lawyers of the accused should be satisfied with the court decision. But this is the legal trick. If the court began to carefully study the evidence of new accusations, no extradition would have occurred. The decision of the Court of Appeal has a limited validity period, which expired on November 19. In other words, already this Friday, But would be free.

According to AP, over the past weeks, Russian diplomats vigorously convinced Thai officials not to refuse to consider new accusations (apparently, they already called into question the independence of the Thai judicial system). And Sergei Lavrov, at a recent meeting in Hanoi, warned Hillary Clinton Secretary of State Hillari Clinton that the criminal prosecution of Buta would entail the coagulation of Russian-American cooperation in combating drug materials in Afghanistan.

However, the court remained in its opinion . The Prime Minister of Thailand Aphisit, a ham for some time did not interfere in the situation, saying that although the final decision will make the executive branch, she needs to wait for the court decision. But on Tuesday, he called the office, which decided to satisfy the request for extradition as soon as the American side was ready. The American side was ready at once.

That's all the mechanics with "egregious lawlessness" and "dubious independence of the Thai court."

Now Bangkok is afraid of the revenge of Moscow. It can be, in particular, about trading restrictions and the deprivation of the Thai Airways airline, the right to fly in Russian territory. In this case, its aircraft will have to fly to Europe through the North Pole, which will lead to a rise in price and increase in the duration of flights, and therefore to the outflow of passengers. Presumably, it was such prospects that Russian diplomats painted Thais.

About why the United States so persistently sought the issuance of Viktor Buta, and Russia so zealously resisted her, the Russian press has already written a lot. They say that Buta was seen in the company with Igor Sechin ,

That he knows a lot about the Kremlin's shadow business. He himself had previously transparently hinted at his connections in the Russian top and that he should keep his mouth in his own safety interests.

Buta’s lawyer Viktor Burobin said that the Americans have already offered his client to relieve the prison regime in exchange for frank testimonies. And Brother Buta Sergey is convinced that the prisoner will make injections of "serum of truth" in order to receive these testimonies besides his will. There is also a more extravagant version: having got a bottle, the Americans hide the ends in the water, because they themselves used his services.

Buta himself claims that he is a peaceful businessman and that the Americans need an exemplary process in the edification of other rebellious Washington’s pointer to entrepreneurs. He does not believe in the impartiality of the American court. But this is the case when it is returned not by faith, but by business.