A court in Tajikistan will on Tuesday start reviewing the controversial case of two pilots sentenced to eight and a half years in prison for smuggling and violation of Tajikistan’s airspace.
Russian pilot Vladimir Sadovnichy and his Estonian colleague Alexei Rudenko were returning from Afghanistan where they had delivered humanitarian aid in March. They had secured prior permission to fly via Tajikistan but Tajik traffic controllers told them to return to Kabul.
Having little fuel, the pilots had to land regardless and were sentenced by a court in Kurgan-Tyube on November 8. Tajik authorities based their smuggling charges on the fact that the pilots had a disassembled engine on board, which they said they were using for spare parts.
Russia flatly denounced the verdict, calling it extremely severe and politically motivated. Following the jailing, Russia deported some 300 Tajik migrant workers in a move President Dmitry Medvedev said was not connected with the pilot case.
In a seeming sign of a possible verdict review following Russia’s response, Tajik Prosecutor General Sherkhon Salimzoda said on November 17 that Sadovnichy and Rudenko will have their sentence commuted.
On Monday, Russia’s public health chief called for Tajik migrant workers to be temporarily barred from Russia “for medical reasons.” Russia also threatened to slap sanctions on vegetable imports from the Central Asian republic.
