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Bout spent most of his jail term in cell block with toughest conditions — lawyer

"He was either alone in the cell, or shared it with another person from time to time. The conditions were very tough," Alexey Tarasov said

MOSCOW, December 9. /TASS/. /TASS/. Russian businessman Viktor Bout spent most of his jail term in solitary confinement of Marion, a US prison known as the successor of the notorious Alcatraz jail, his lawyer Alexey Tarasov has told TASS.

"Bout was kept in Marion, Illiniois. It is a special prison, a jail inside a jail, a successor of Alcatraz. After being officially closed in 1960s, the facility de-facto ‘moved’ to Illinois," he said. "Bout was held in a special cell block with limited connection to the outside world, where all sorts of communication among inmates were closely monitored. Its inmates were convicted on political charges and for terrorism-related crimes, including Islamic terrorists. Viktor <…> was put there as well, to the Communication Management Unit."

"He was either alone in the cell, or shared it with another person from time to time. The conditions were very tough," Tarasov said.

Viktor Bout was detained in Thailand’s capital of Bangkok in 2008 under a warrant issued by a local court at the behest of the US. He was charged with illegally supplying weapons to a rebel group known as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the US. Bout was extradited to the United States two years later. In April 2012, he was sentenced to 25 years in jail and slapped with a $15-million fine.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said on December 8 that Viktor Bout was returning to Russia as a result of an agreement with the US to exchange him for American basketball player Brittney Griner.

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