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When President Joe Biden ordered that Viktor Bout be freed in exchange for basketball star Brittney Griner it came with conditions that the notorious arms dealer must not profit from his crimes with movies or books, according to the order commuting his sentence.
However, legal experts on Friday warned that it may be unenforceable beyond the reach of American courts.
Mark Zaid, a Washington, D.C. national security attorney, said deals banning book or movie deals had become commonplace in such cases but came with First Amendment concerns.
‘More practically, under the circumstances it will be virtually unenforceable against Bout as he will be outside of the United States and our courts’ jurisdiction,’ he told DailyMail.com.
‘Theoretically, if he used a U.S. publisher or the funds were transferred through a U.S. bank the government could attempt to block or seize those assets, but they would have to know about them in advance.’
Notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout was freed on Thursday after President Joe Biden signed an order commuting his 25-year sentence. He was swapped for Brittney Griner in the UAE
Griner touched down on American soil on Friday morning, a day after being handed to American officials at Abu Dhabi Airport in the United Arab Emirates.
Bout, who was serving a 25-year sentence after being convicted of conspiring to kill American citizens, among other crimes, flew in the opposite direction.
His release was made possible through a clemency order signed by Biden a week earlier and published on the Justice Department website on Friday.
It bars Bout from ever returning to the U.S. and requires him not to break any U.S. laws.
‘The said Viktor Bout shall not accept or otherwise receive any financial benefit, directly or indirectly, in any manner or amount, from any book, movie, or other publication or production, in any form or media, about the circumstances surrounding the instant offense or commutation,’ it says.
He cannot reclaim any forfeited funds or make any legal claims against the U.S.
Biden signed the order on December 2, another step in the deal to free basketball star Griner
The Executive Grant of Clemency comes with conditions, including that Bout never set foot in the U.S. again and that he does not profit from his crimes with movies or books
‘If at any time, the said Viktor Bout violates any one or more of the aforesaid conditions, as determined by me in my complete discretion (or by a future president in his or her complete discretion), this commutation may be voided in its entirety and all terms of the originally imposed sentence reinstated.’
The document is dated December 5, offering another detail in the timeline of the deal.
And it says the deal only becomes valid if Bout signs off on the terms.
Bout was nicknamed the ‘merchant of death’ by a British foreign minister for his role supplying weapons to conflicts around the world.
He made millions of dollars from clients who allegedly included Libya’s Colonel Gaddafi, the Taliban and even Al Qaeda.
At 18, Bout was conscripted into the Soviet army (above, left) and spent two years in western Ukraine. He later studied at the Military Institute of Foreign Languages in Moscow, which experts say was a ‘breeding ground’ for Soviet spies.
The shadowy Tajikistan businessman and alleged Soviet spy famously dubbed the ‘merchant of death’ wrought untold havoc and misery across the world, including in Afghanistan and Africa where his arms were allegedly used to kill American and British troops.
But his career as an arms dealer ended in 2008 when he was caught in a U.S. sting in Bangkok, Thailand.
He agreed a deal with two men he believed were commanders from the Colombian FARC rebel group for 100 surface-to-air missiles, 20,000 AK-47 rifles, five tons of explosives, plus ammunition and more.
The were informants for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
Two years later he was extradited to the U.S. were he was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Moscow had long pushed for his release, with lawmakers describing Bout’s detainment at the time as politically motivated.
He was long thought to have close ties with Russia’s foreign military intelligence agency, the G.R.U.
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