After the American basketball player Brittney Griner to plead guilty in Russia to drug possession and smuggling, it became known that the European country and the United States They negotiate the exchange of the player for the Russian arms dealer Víktor Butknown as the “merchant of death”.
The “merchant of death” is currently serving a 25-year sentence in the United States for conspiring to kill American citizens and selling weapons to the former FARC guerrilla.
The prosecutor in charge of handling the case, Preet Bharara, during the trial, pointed out that Víktor But “was for years the number one arms dealer in some of the world’s most violent conflicts.
But, who has always insisted that he is innocent and has denounced that his trial has been a political operation, was arrested in 2008 in Thailandplace where he was until being extradited to the United States in 2010.
Since a time ago Russia has insisted that But must pay the sentence in his countryas they point out that their Russian citizens must serve prison sentences on their territory and have criticized the United States on numerous occasions.
In addition, a large number of international non-governmental organizations have stated that But for a long time was part of one of the largest private arms smuggling networks in the world.
The athlete Brittney Griner for whom they want to negotiate the exchange with Víktor But, admitted all chargesalthough he indicated that he did not intend to commit a crime, according to the Interfax agency.
Griner explained that in his luggage he packed cannabis oil for the haste with which he packed his bags to travel to Russia.
Recently, Russia and the United States exchanged American student Trevor Reedsentenced to nine years in prison for resisting arrest, by the Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, sentenced in the US to 20 years for drug smuggling.
