DUSHANBE, November 17, 2011, Asia-Plus – A part of the criminal case of two pilots working for Rolkan Investment Ltd, which concerns the Rolkan Investment Ltd director general Sergey Poluyanov, was suspended a month ago, an official statement released by Tajik Prosecutor-General’s Office says.
According to the statement, report released by some media outlets in recent days that the Tajik authorities have allegedly opened an investigation into the activities of Sergey Poluyanov, the director general of Rolkan Investment Ltd, who is a Russian national, and issued an international warrant for his arrest does not correspondent to the facts.
On May 12, the investigation department of the State Committee for National Security (SCNS)’s office in Khatlon province instituted only one criminal case against Captain Vladimir Sadovnichiy and others and other criminal proceedings have been instituted to date, the statement said.
Tajik Prosecutor-General’s Office notes that only the pilots of the two planes – Captain Vladimir Sadovnichiy and Captain Aleksey – Rudenko were detained, while six other crew members (two Russians, two Ukrainians, one Kazakh, and one Belarusian) were released.
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.
On November 11, the pilots’ defense lawyer referred to the court of appeals and the Khatlon prosecutor’s officially challenged the Qurghon Teppa city court’s verdict on November 15, calling for the sentence to be reduced.
