Moscow has released a video of the exchange of both prisoners at the Abu Dhabi airport.
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced this Thursday that the Russian citizen Viktor But returned to the country in the framework of an exchange of prisoners for the American basketball player Brittney Griner.
The Foreign Ministry specified that the exchange of But, who was serving a 25-year sentence for arms trafficking in the US, was completed in Abu Dhabi airport (United Arab Emirates).
Russia’s ombudsman, Tatiana Moskalkova, specified that both But and Griner they were pardoned before the exchange to not serve the rest of their sentences, so they have freedom of movement.
- The businessman Viktor But was arrested in Thailand in 2008. Two years later, he was extradited to the US and accused of trying to sell a shipment of weapons to a Colombian terrorist group. A federal court sentenced the Russian to 25 years in prison in 2012, however, But pleaded not guilty. Likewise, from Washington they have repeatedly rejected Moscow’s request to deport him.
- The American athlete was detained on February 17 at the Sheremetievo international airport in Moscow after the discovery of 0.702 grams of the illicit substance in your luggage. During the trial he pleaded guilty, although he assured that he had no intention of committing any crime.
Source: RT
