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New focus on extradition treaty after retired businessmen being tried in US says he was a victim of an FBI sting operation
A retired British businessman who was extradited to the US in February on charges of dealing arms to Iran, has denied any connection with terrorism and claimed he was the victim of an FBI sting operation.
Chris Tappin, 65 who was released on bail after his family paid $50,000 (£31,026) of a $1m (£620,527) bond, said: "I'm not a terrorist. I've never had any connections with terrorism and I'm just appalled that things could come to this stage."
Speaking to the BBC after a Texas court freed him on condition that he wear an electronic tag and agree to have his emails monitored, Tappin said: "I didn't know these batteries were for hawk missiles and … I didn't know they were destined for Iran."
Tappin, from Orpington, south-east London, lost his two-year battle against extradition to the US, and denies trying to sell batteries for surface-to-air missiles that were to be shipped from the US to Tehran via the Netherlands.
He claims he was the victim of entrapment in a "sting" organised by US government agents.
Tappin could face up to 35 years in prison if convicted.
At his bail hearing, Tappin, who has been retired for four years, was ordered to surrender his passport and is restricted to travel only to El Paso and Houston, where he will stay with one of his lawyers.
The case has fuelled criticism of the UK's extradition arrangements with both the US and Europe while the attorney general, Dominic Grieve, has said that Tappin's extradition has highlighted problems with the UK-US treaty that are not "readily curable".
Other critics of the 2003 treaty, including the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, have described it as "one-sided", but an independent review last year by retired court of appeal judge Lord Justice Scott Baker found it was both balanced and fair.
Tappin's extradition follows an investigation that started in 2005 when US agents asked technology providers about buyers who might have prompted alarm.
Those customers were then approached by companies set up by government agencies.
Robert Gibson, an associate of Tappin who agreed to co-operate, was jailed for 24 months after pleading guilty to conspiracy to export defence articles.
