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9 May 2022, 10:22

After pilot Yaroshenko’s return home there is hope for Bout’s release in US — commissioner

On April 27, Konstantin Yaroshenko was exchanged for Trevor Reed, an American citizen

MOSCOW, May 9. /TASS/. After pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko’s return to Russia there is hope that Viktor Bout jailed in the United States will be released, Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova told TASS on Monday.

"Yes, we do hope so because also according to the US law, time has come for him when he can be sent to serve his prison term in his home country. The Prosecutor-General’s Office is working on this. For my part, I’m also sending the respective requests, and the Foreign Ministry is doing this. I want to hope that the US side will hear us," Moskalkova said.

The Russian Foreign Ministry on April 27 said Konstantin Yaroshenko had been exchanged for Trevor Reed, an American citizen. In 2011, the Russian pilot was given a 20-year prison sentence in the US on drug smuggling charges. He pleaded not guilty and condemned his arrest as a set-up and insisted that he was framed.

Reed was tried in Russia and sentenced to nine years in 2020 for violently assaulting police officers while under the influence.

Viktor Bout was apprehended in Thailand’s capital of Bangkok in 2008 following a sting by US federal agents. He was charged with conspiracy to deliver weapons to a group regarded as a terrorist organization by the United States. In 2010, Bout was extradited to the United States. In April 2012, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison and a fine of $15 mln.