By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Viktor Bout, Russian arms dealer freed from a US jail last year on Friday raised concern about the safety of the embattled US ex-president, Donald Trump, saying life of the US former leader was “in peril”.
Bout was serving a 25-year sentence in a US prison when he was swapped for US basketball star Britney Griner in a high-profile prisoner exchange between Moscow and Washington in December.
Bout, also known as the “Merchant of Death”, is urging Trump to seek refuge in Russia.
“I believe your life is in peril,” Bout wrote in a telegram sent to Trump and shown to the press in Moscow.
“The Biden administration will not stop just by dragging you through the court/prison industrial complex,” he said, referring to Trump’s successor Joe Biden.
“They would sooner end your life than let you stand in their way.”
Bout told Trump, whom he has long admired, that he would find a “safe haven and from here you can lead the fight for the American people.”
Accused of arming rebels in some of the world’s bloodiest conflicts, Bout was arrested in Thailand in a US sting operation in 2008, extradited to the United States and sentenced in 2012.
Trump was indicted was indicted in 34 felony counts in connection with his alleged role in a scheme that directed hush money payments to two women during the 2016 election.
He is the first former or sitting president of United States to be indicted in connection with criminal charges.
