Kaloyev could serve sentence in Russia

MOSCOW, October 27 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian citizen sentenced to eight years in jail for killing the Swiss air traffic controller on duty during the plane crash that killed his wife and two children could serve his sentence in Russia, despite the absence of a prisoner exchange treaty between Russia and Switzerland, the Russian Justice Ministry said Thursday.

According to the Russian Criminal Code, in absence of a prisoner exchange treaty, a convict can be extradited on the basis of a mutually acceptable written agreement between authorized bodies in Russia and the country in question, the ministry said in a statement.

"Kaloyev could serve his prison sentence in Russia," the ministry said. "In order to initiate the extradition procedures, he should first submit his written agreement to do so."

Kaloyev lost his family in an air crash in July 2002, when a Tu-154 plane owned by Bashkirian airlines collided with a DHL-owned Boeing over Germany's Lake Constance. Sixty-nine people, including 45 Bashkir children flying to Spain on vacation, and two Boeing pilots, were killed.

German investigators said the accident was largely due to negligence on the part of Skyguide, and partially the fault of the two Russian pilots.

Peter Nielsen, a Skyguide air traffic controller, was stabbed to death on February 24, 2004 near his house in the Swiss town of Kloten. Vitaly Kaloyev was arrested in a local hotel a day later.