QURGHON TEPPA, November 22, 2011, Asia-Plus — Two pilots of Rolkan Investment Ltd, Captain Vladimir Sadovnichiy (Russian national) and Captain Aleksey Rudenko (citizen of Estonia), who were sentenced by the Qurghon Teppa city court to 8 ½ years in prison each on charges of smuggling, illegal border crossing and violation of aviation regulations, have been released by an appeal court ruling.
The Khatlon regional court reviewed the sentences on November 22 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.
In a ruling handed down today at the Khatlon regional court, the sentences, in accordance with a recent Tajik amnesty, were reduced to two years, six months and ten days.
Taking into account that the pilots had already spent more than six months in prison during the trial, the court ruled that Sadovnichiy and Rudenko be released in the courtroom. Besides, they were barred from operating aircraft during four years.
We will recall that the Qurghon Teppa city court sentenced Captain Vladimir Sadovnichiy and Captain Aleksey Rudenko working for Rolkan Investment Ltd, a private company domiciled in the British Virgin Islands, to 8 1/2 years in prison each on November 8. The sentence followed their conviction 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.
According to him, the two pilots ignored warnings from Tajikistan”s air traffic controllers and entered Tajik airspace illegally. Salimzoda said Sadovnichiy asked Tajik air traffic controllers seven times for permission to enter Tajikistan”s airspace and was refused every time. He said Sadovnichiy then asked for permission for an emergency landing, even at the risk the planes would be impounded.
Salimzoda said that before the two planes took off, Afghan government officials informed Tajikistan that they had false registration numbers and were not registered in any country. They also did not have log books or air safety certificates.
Tajik chief prosecutor said the investigation 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. He said that according to Afghan aviation authorities, the planes have not been inspected for the past three years and are no longer licensed to fly.
Salimzoda prosecutor also noted that if the lawyer of two sentenced pilots appeals the verdict, the case could be retried in a higher court.
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.
