A prisoner swap deal with the US to return home jailed Russian businessman Viktor Bout might be possible following an earlier swap of Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko for ex-US marine Trevor Reed, Valery Fadeyev, chair of the Russian Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights, said on Monday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th May, 2022) A prisoner swap deal with the US to return home jailed Russian businessman Viktor Bout might be possible following an earlier swap of Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko for ex-US marine Trevor Reed, Valery Fadeyev, chair of the Russian Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights, said on Monday.
In April, Moscow and Washington exchanged Yaroshenko, who was serving a 20-year sentence in the US, for Reed, who was sentenced to nine years in prison in Russia, following lengthy negotiations.
"I think it is possible because Konstantin Yaroshenko was in prison for over 10 years and the issue seemed to be forgotten. The exchange happened and there could be something like that involving Bout," Fadeyev said when asked a relevant question by Sputnik.
In 2008, Bout was arrested on terrorism charges in Bangkok, Thailand, in a joint operation between Thai and US authorities. He was sentenced to 25 years in jail in a US prison in 2012 on charges of conspiracy to murder American citizens and financially supporting terrorism. Bout has been denying all accusations.
