DUSHANBE, November 15, 2011, Asia-Plus – The Tajik authorities have instituted criminal proceedings against Sergey Poluyanov, the director general of Rolkan Investments Ltd, a private company domiciled in the British Virgin Islands.
The source says the State Committee for National Security (SCNS) is investigating the case. “Poluyanov who is charged with indirect participation in smuggling and illegal border crossing was put on the international wanted list,” said the source, “Investigation has established that two pilots working for Rolkan Investments Ltd were flying from Afghanistan to Tajikistan by Poluyanov’s order.”
Poluyanov had previously told Russian media outlets that the Tajik authorities had allegedly blackmailed the company. The authorities demanded that Rolkan Investments Ltd gives them the planes, threatening to send the pilots to jail for 10 years, he said.
Lenta.ru quoted Poluyanov as saying, “From the beginning after landing at the Qurghon Teppa airport we were told that there would be no problem and everything would be settled. But after a while they began to openly threaten us.” He also reportedly explained that representatives of the airline did not immediately call for help to the Russian Embassy, as they “thought there would be no serious problems.”
When they turned to the diplomats (approximately one month after the arrest of pilots), they stated: “We contacted the Security Committee of Tajikistan and they told us you were guilty. What else?”
Meanwhile, according to Tajikistan’s Prosecutor’s General, the two Antonov AN-72s have false registration numbers and are not registered in any country. They also did not have log books or air safety certificates. The investigation reportedly established that the two aircraft were removed in 2008 from the list of aircraft registered in Georgia and since then have been based in Afghanistan. According to Afghan aviation authorities, the planes have not been inspected for the past three years and are no longer licensed to fly.
