CZECH GOVERNMENT DENIES EXTRADITION OF ARMS TRAFFICKER WANTED BY US IN VIKTOR BOUT-TYPE CASE

Ali Fayad (r.)

Stop me if you have seen this fact pattern before. The Justice Minister of the Czech Republic has declined to extradite, to the United States, Lebanese arms trafficker Ali Fayad, a/k/a Ali Amin, on charges that he, and some associates, planned to ship missiles to undercover DEA agents, posing as the FARC. The case seems to have been lifted right out of the playbook DEA used to indict the Russian arms trafficker, Viktor Bout.

The Cezch Government promised not to extradite Fayad, who is a known associate of Lebanese intelligence services, in exchange for the release of five Czechs kidnapped in eastern Lebanon, by an armed group that is believed to be Hezbollah. Inasmuch as the kidnapped Czechs, who included Fayad's attorney, were seized after the extradition order was issued, it would appear that they were taken to barter for Fayad.

The troubling part of this case is the similarity between the Viktor Bout case, and this case. Bout has claimed that there was entrapment, and governmental misconduct, in his case, as did Fayad, when he was arrested. This type of law enforcement conduct is expressly prohibited in the Czech Republic, and this may have contributed to the end result.

Will Viktor Bout's attorneys seize upon this case, and seek a retrial for their client ? More importantly, are there other instances, where Drug Enforcement Administration agents posed as the FARC, and sought to purchase missiles from targeted individuals, irrespective of whether they have the ability to complete such sales ?

Viktor Bout