DUSHANBE, November 10, 2011, Asia-Plus – Russian media outlets report a public committee to protect Russian pilot Vladimir Sadovnichiy, who was sentenced in Tajikistan to 8½ years in prison, will be set up in the near future.
According to Itar-Tass, lawyer Anatoly Kucherena, the head of the Russian Public Chamber commission for oversight of the activity of law enforcement agencies, said on Wednesday that the Public Chamber will seek the release of Vladimir Sadovnichiy.
Kucherena reportedly noted that such a tough verdict against the pilot might be qualified as a slap in the face for Russia. He pledged that a public committee to protect the pilot would be set up shortly.
“I believe it is a matter of honor for the Russian state, for human rights activists to intercede for “a fellow countryman who has found himself in a difficult life situation and to seek his release,” he stressed.
Rosbalt quoted Kucherena as saying that “Tajik lawyer did all in his power, but he needed assistance, which he did not receive unfortunately.”
“We hope that Sergey Lavrov will conduct a service inspection of the activity of employees of the Russian Embassy in Dushanbe who failed to prevent such an inhuman and cynical verdict against Russian citizen,” Kucherena said.
According to him, Russia’s position should have been based on the provisions of the Tokyo Convention, under which all examinations and trials over an aircraft should be conducted by the sate, in which this aircraft is registered.
The Convention on Offences and Certain Other Acts Committed On Board Aircraft, commonly called the Tokyo Convention, is an international treaty, concluded in Tokyo on September 14, 1963. It entered into force on December 4, 1969, and has been ratified by 185 parties. The Convention is applicable to offences against penal law and to any acts jeopardizing the safety of persons or property on board civilian aircraft while in-flight and engaged in international air navigation.
Meanwhile, Fayzullo Kholov, the prosecutor at the trial, noted on October 24 that Sadovnichiy and Rudenko were allegedly working for Rolkan Investments Limited, which is domiciled in the British Virgin Islands, illegally. According to him, those two AN-72s worked in Afghanistan from 2008 till detention illegally because they are not registered in any state.
