DUSHANBE, November 15, 2011, Asia-Plus -- The Khatlon prosecutor’s office has submitted the protest against the sentence passed by the Qurghon Teppa city court on two pilots of Rolkan Investments Ltd, Shohrukh Rajabov, the head of the department for oversight over judicial bodies, Khatlon prosecutor’s office told Asia-Plus Tuesday afternoon.

According to him, the Khatlon prosecutor’s office considers that the verdict against the pilots is too severe.

“Taking into consideration the fact that the pilots are nationals of the countries that are strategic partners of Tajikistan, the prosecutor’s office asks to commute the sentence passed on Captain Valdimir Sadovnichiy and Captain Aleksey Rudenko,” Rajabov said.   

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.

Moscow called the sentence “extremely severe and politically motivated.”

Meanwhile, Fayzullo Kholov, the prosecutor at the trial, told journalists that the verdict was “normal” and not politically tainted.

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.

Tajikistan’s Prosecutor-General Sherkhon Salimzoda told journalists in Dushanbe on November 10 that there is no political motive behind the sentencing two ethnic Russian pilots.

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.

Salimzoda 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.

Tajik chief prosecutor also noted that if the lawyer of two sentenced pilots appeals the verdict, the case could be retried in a higher court.