Suspected Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout “considers himself innocent” and claims that Thai authorities illegally tried to force him to go to the US for prosecution just after his recent arrest in Bangkok, his lawyer said on Monday.

Mr Bout – who has been dubbed “the Merchant of Death” due to suspicions that he supplied weapons that fuelled some of Africa’s most brutal conflicts – was arrested two weeks ago at a luxury hotel in Bangkok, allegedly while negotiating a deal to supply missiles and rocket launchers to Colombia’s FARC rebels.