DUSHANBE, November 14, 2011, Asia-Plus – Russian Ambassador to Tajikistan Yuri Popov is expected to return to Dushanbe today, Russia’s news agency, RIA Novosti, reports.
We will recall that the Russian ambassador was summoned to Moscow last Friday for consultations over Sadovnichiy’s case. He flew to Moscow following his meeting with Tajik President Emomali Rahmon.
In the meantime, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev expressed hope that Tajikistan will consider its level of relations with Russia in deciding the fate of Russian pilot Vladimir Sadovnichiy.
“I really hope that our Tajik friends will hear or have already heard us and in the final decision will be guided not only by abstract considerations, but the general level of relations [with Russia],” Medvedev said at a news conference after the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Hawaii, according to RIA Novosti. But he added that the decision on the fate of Sadovnichiy should be taken in accordance with the laws of the republic.
We will recall that the Qurghon Teppa city court sentenced Captain Vladimir Sadovnichiy (Russian national) and Captain Aleksey Rudenko (citizen of Estonia) to 8 ½ years in prison each on November 8. The sentence followed their conviction on charges of smuggling, illegal border crossing, and violating international air carriage regulations.
The pilots were arrested in March, when the An-72 cargo planes they were piloting landed at the Qurghon Teppa airport for unscheduled refueling en route to Russia from Afghanistan. The cargo of one of the planes included a disassembled aircraft engine that was not listed on the customs declaration. Both of the planes, owned by Rolkan Investment Ltd., a private company domiciled in the British Virgin Islands, were confiscated by Tajik authorities.
Moscow called the sentence “extremely severe and politically motivated” and threatened to expel some 300 Tajik migrants.
RIA Novosti quoted Medvedev as saying, “We cannot ignore this case because this is a citizen of the Russian Federation. In general, this situation looks very odious.”
Medvedev also said that the deportation of the illegal Tajik migrants in Russia is not a one-time campaign and called to expel illegal migrants on a regular basis, RIA Novosti reports.
According to RIA Novosti, a Russian diplomatic source told reporters that the expulsion of some 100 Tajik migrants is a part of Moscow”s response to the Sadovnichiy verdict.
