CRIMINAL COMPLAINT AGAINST DEA EMPLOYEES

UNCLAS BANGKOK 001253

SIPDIS

STATE FOR L/DL
JUSTICE FOR OFL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KLIG TH
SUBJECT: CRIMINAL COMPLAINT AGAINST DEA EMPLOYEES


1. (SBU) Pursuant to reftel, this will advise that Embassy Bangkok
has received notice of legal proceedings in Thailand naming as
defendants the following three employees from the U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administration: Special Agent Derek S. Odney; Special
Agent Scott Seeley-Hacker; and Special Agent Robert Zachariasiewicz.
Special Agents Odney and Seeley-Hacker are, and were at all
relevant times, accredited to Post as A/T staff. Special Agent
Zachariasiewicz is assigned to the DEA's Special Operations Division
in Washington, D.C., and is not, and has never been, accredited to
Post.


2. (SBU) The legal proceedings have been initiated by a criminal
complaint filed by plaintiff Viktor Bout in Southern Bangkok
Criminal Court, entitled Criminal Litigation Between Mr. Victor
Analojevich Bout, Plaintiff, and Mr. Derek S. Odney, Defendant No.
1; Mr. Robert Zachariasiewicz, Defendant No. 2; and Mr. Scott
Hacker, Defendant No. 3, Case No. 1050/2552. The Southern Bangkok
Criminal Court is located at Rachini Road, Phra Nakorn, Bangkok.


3. (SBU) Bout's complaint alleges that the three DEA employees
violated various provisions of Thai law in connection with the
investigation and arrest of Bout on terrorism charges in Bangkok in
March 2008. In particular, the complaint alleges that the DEA
employees made false statements to the Thai authorities leading to
his arrest; illegally installed recording devices in the hotel room
where Bout was arrested; and forced Bout at gun point to surrender
to the Thai authorities.


4. (SBU) The Embassy received notice of the legal proceedings
directly from the Southern Bangkok Criminal Court via express mail
on May 20, 2009, in three envelopes individually addressed to the
three DEA employees. On May 19, the Embassy had also obtained a
copy of the criminal complaint from a prosecutor from the Office of
the Attorney General, who had been provided a copy by Bout's defense
counsel during an extradition hearing that same day at the Thai
Criminal Court.


5. (SBU) The mailing received from the Southern Bangkok Criminal
Court on May 20 included the following: the criminal complaint and
four attached exhibits; a notice of an optional "mediation session"
scheduled to be held at the court's Dispute Mediation Center on June
30, 2009 at 1:30 p.m.; a summons to appear either personally or
through a legal representative at a Preliminary Hearing on July 13,
2009 at 1:30 p.m.; and a List of Witnesses, which names Bout, his
defense lawyer, an officer from the Royal Thai Police and a
prosecutor from the Office of the Attorney General. The mediation
notice states that the parties are "required to notify the Court of
[their] mediation intention" by contacting staff of the Dispute
Mediation Center by telephone or mail. These documents were in Thai
and are in the process of being translated at Post.


6. (SBU) Bout is currently in custody at Bangkok Remand Prison in
Bangkok for purposes of extradition to the U.S. to face trial for
conspiring to sell weapons to the FARC for use in killing Americans
in Colombia. The indictment pending against Bout in the U.S.
District Court for the Southern District of New York charges him
with four terrorism offenses: conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals;
conspiracy to kill U.S. officers or employees; conspiracy to acquire
and use an anti-aircraft missile; and conspiracy to provide material
support or resources to a designated foreign terrorist
organization.


7. (SBU) The Royal Thai Police initially arrested Bout at the
Sofitel Hotel in Bangkok on March 6, 2008 on Thai terrorism charges.
On April 9, 2008, the Thai authorities dropped the Thai charges in
favor of the U.S. prosecution and detained Bout on a provisional
arrest warrant issued by the Thai Criminal Court in the extradition
case. The U.S. formally submitted its extradition request to the
Thai authorities on May 6, 2008.


8. (SBU) The DEA and Royal Thai Police closely coordinated Bout's
investigation and arrest. Any and all investigative activities
performed by DEA agents in Thailand in this matter, including those
of the three agents Bout has sued, were performed in concert with,
and with the knowledge and approval of, the Royal Thai Police.

9. (SBU) Thailand's Office of the Attorney General is prosecuting
the extradition case against Bout on behalf of the United States.
In October 2008, the Thai prosecutors completed their presentation
of its extradition case, which included testimony from DEA Special
Agent Zachariasiewicz, a Royal Thai Police officer, and officials
from the Foreign and Interior Ministries. Special Agent
Zachariasiewicz's testimony, among other things, described the close
cooperation between the DEA and Thai authorities in the
investigation and arrest of Bout. In over a dozen extradition
hearings since that time, Bout's lawyers have sought to present
evidence supporting his defense that the U.S. prosecution is
politically motivated and that the extradition request violates the
Extradition Treaty and Thai law.

10. (SBU) At an extradition hearing on May 19, 2009, the Thai
Criminal Court ordered closing statements in the extradition case
against Bout to be filed no later than June 30, 2009, and announced
that a verdict in the matter would be delivered on August 11, 2009.


11. (SBU) Department of Justice Attach Christopher P. Sonderby has
been involved in the Bout investigation and extradition since its
inception and is knowledgeable about the facts relating to the
attempted service of the criminal complaint and the facts of the
case. Mr. Sonderby's contact information is as follows:

Christopher P. Sonderby
DOJ Attach, US Embassy Bangkok
+662-205-4678 (o)
+6689-969-5928 (m)
+662-254-2839 (f)
sonderbycp@state.gov

12. (SBU) Post will not take any action regarding these legal
proceedings unless and until it receives instructions to do so.
JOHN