NEW YORK CITY (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th December, 2022) Former District Judge Shira A. Scheindlin, who presided over Viktor Bout's trial, told Sputnik she does not consider him a terrorist, rather a businessman, and doubts he plotted to kill Americans.
When asked if she believes Bout really wanted to kill Americans, Scheindlin replied "No, no, not really."
She said that an undercover US agent told Bout during a sting operation "Do you realize these weapons will be used to kill Americans?" and the Russian businessman reportedly said "Oh yes, I understand that. And I agree, it's my enemy too."
"So he said that on the tapes, he said, 'It's my enemy too.' So he said the right word, but he was not himself a terrorist who, who like Al Qaeda (a terrorist organization, banned in Russia) flies planes into the Trade Center. I would always say he's not an ideological terrorist. He's a businessman," the retired judge said.
Scheindlin expressed doubt that the businessman really thought about how the weapons would be used.
"He's a businessman. So I don't think he cares who got killed by these weapons that he sold. Whoever got killed - got killed. He sold it to two sides of a civil war in Africa. He sold to both sides," Scheindlin said.
Judge Scheindlin sentenced Bout to 25 years in a US prison in 2012 on charges of conspiring to supply Colombian rebels with weapons to kill Americans. The Russian citizen pleaded not guilty.
Last week, the United States released Bout in exchange for Brittney Griner, who was sentenced earlier this year to nine years in prison in Russia for illegally bringing cannabis oil into the country.
In his first interview since his release to RT, Bout recalled that the judge admitted during the trial that he was an ordinary businessman and his activity did not differ much from the one of his peers, and that she saw nothing illegal in it.
