The entitled attitude that led her to assume that her "medicinal cannabis oil," would be legal in Russia, led to her arrest. Russia does not share America's view of this drug. She should have determined this in advance. But she is a high profile American, so most people were willing to ignore her culpability. None-the-less, her sentence was unnecessarily severe compared to the impact of her offense. That motivated many to demand her release.
Viktor Bout (pronounced boot) is a former arms dealer. There is no doubt that the people who bought arms from Bout used them to kill other people. But, like American gun makers and stores, he did not kill people himself. He is a bad man. That is why Eric Holder set up a Sting Operation along with Interpol and the Thai Royal Police, that caught him in 2008. He was convicted of his crimes and in 2012 sentenced to 25-years in prison. With "time served," before conviction, he has been in prison for 14-years. Since he would be in the crosshairs of most governments for re-arrest, it is highly unlikely he will return to his former business. Releasing him was fairly benign, in that regard.
