Viktor Bout: The True Story of the 'Merchant of Death'

In 2008, Russian citizen and businessman Viktor Bout was arrested by U.S. special services as a result of a setup operation carried out across three continents and concluded in Thailand. Bout was charged with conspiracy against America. For the two years Viktor spent in a Thai prison, his fate was decided within the fierce diplomatic struggle between Russia and the U.S. After Bout was extradited to New York in 2010, he was held in solitary confinement, subjected to psychological torture, pressured to cooperate with American special services, and asked for compromising material on Russian politicians. Refusing to betray his comrades and his homeland resulted for Viktor in a sentence of 25 years in prison—which he is still serving in the United States. Reanalyzed facts about the true reasons behind the U.S. pursuit of V. Bout, interviews with him, his relatives and acquaintances, unique photos from his family archive, letters Viktor wrote from prison, and excerpts from the diary of his wife Alla formed the basis of this journalistic investigation into a case that became a major international scandal.