DUSHANBE, November 17, 2011, Asia-Plus – Rolkan Investment Ltd, a private company domiciled in the British Virgin Islands, intends to file lawsuit against the Tajik authorities that arrested and sentenced two pilots, working for the company, to long prison terms as well as impounded the company’s two freight planes.
“We are going to file lawsuit against them, but now the main thing is the fate of the pilots,” Rolkan Investment Ltd CEO Sergey Poluyanov told Interfax in an interview.
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.
The Tajik authorities have reportedly 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. He is accused of indirect participation in smuggling and illegal border crossing. Tajik Prosecutor-General’s Office allegedly applied to the Russian Prosecutor-General’s Office on November 14, asking to detain Poluyanov. It is to be noted Poluyanov”s current whereabouts are unknown.
Interfax reported on Tuesday that Russia will not extradite Rolkan Investment Ltd CEO Poluyanov to the Tajik side and measures to establish his current whereabouts would be taken only after receipt of the criminal case materials.
“Like the majority of other countries, Russia does not extradite its nationals to foreign countries,” a source in the Russian Ministry of Interior told Interfax.
Meanwhile, Tajik news agency, TojNews, reported today that press center of the Tajik Prosecutor-General’s office says that report about instituting criminal proceedings against Rolkan Investment Ltd CEO Poluyanov does not correspondent to the facts.
