DUSHANBE, November 17, 2011, Asia-Plus — Representatives of all factions of the State Duma (Russia’s lower chouse of parliament) supported today a statement calling on the Tajik authorities to review the guilty verdict passed by a Tajik court on Captain Vladimir Sadovnichiy (Russian national) and Captain Aleksey Rudenko (citizen of Estonia), Russia’s news agency, Interfax, reports.
The statement, in particular, says the State Duma deputies considers that the verdict is unfounded and politically motivated. “Such a decision is contrary to the spirit of strategic partnership between the Russian Federation and the Republican of Tajikistan,” the document notes.
The draft statement was submitted for consideration to the Stat Duma by the faction of the Liberal-Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR).
Meanwhile, Tajikistan is going to review the sentence as the pilots’ defense lawyer referred to the court of appeals on November 11 and the Khatlon prosecutor’s officially challenged the Qurghon Teppa city court’s verdict on November 15, calling for the sentence to be reduced.
We will recall that Vladimir Sadovnichiy Aleksey Rudenko working for Rolkan Investment Ltd, a private company domiciled in the British Virgin Islands, were jailed for 8 1/2 years on charges of smuggling, illegally crossing the border, and violating international aviation regulations.
The pilots were arrested on March 12, 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, were confiscated by Tajik authorities.
On November 14, Tajikistan”s Prosecutor General Sherkhon Salimzoda produced a written request from Afghanistan”s Transport Ministry to detain the two planes because they left Afghanistan illegally and did not have proper documents.
Russian Foreign Ministry officials slammed the sentences as politically motivated, and in an apparent retaliatory move, Russia”s immigration police began arresting and deporting Tajik migrant workers.
