WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – The defence team of Russian citizen Viktor Bout, who is imprisoned in the United States, has been unable to contact their client for two weeks, lawyer Alexey Tarasov said on Monday.
Bout wrote in a letter on 23 July that 36 COVID-19 cases have been registered in Marion prison in the US state of Illinois, where he is located. The US Federal Bureau of Prisons in a recent update said there are now 78 confirmed cases of COVID-19 at the facility.
On Saturday, Bout’s wife Alla said that neither she nor the Russian Embassy in the US has been able to reach him since 22 July.
Last month, Bout told his lawyer there were no cases in his specific prison unit, which is completely isolated from the outside world and allows no visitation.
In 2008, Bout was detained in Thailand on a US government request as a result of a sting operation by the US special services. Bout was then transferred to the United States where a court found him guilty of conspiring to kill US citizens and of supporting terrorism.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
