Court merges Lord of War's cases

The Criminal Court Tuesday put together the two lawsuits involving Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, saying that they were related.

The judges said merging the cases did not affect Washington's request for the man's extradition. US wants to try Bout for four crimes, including terrorism and conspiracy to murder American citizens and officials. Bout had earlier lodged a complaint that his arrest at a Bangkok hotel in March was not lawful, making the extradition request inapplicable.

Tuesday's session in court began with the public prosecutor requesting to present a new witness. However, defence lawyer Preecha Prasertsak said he had not been given the investigation report or an arrest record from the prosecution side, and theorised that Bout had been unlawfully arrested.

The Nation