Defense lawyers for a Russian pilot convicted in Tajikistan appealed the eight and a half year sentence against him on Friday.
Russian pilot Vladimir Sadovnichy and his Estonian colleague Alexei Rudenko were sentenced to eight and a half years in jail in Tajikistan on Tuesday for smuggling and violation of Tajikistan’s airspace.
The appeal is to be considered within 10 days, Sadovnichy’s lawyer, Gulom Babaev, said.
Moscow has called the sentence “politically motivated,” and threatened to expel some 200 Tajik migrants. It has also summoned the Russian ambassador to Moscow for consultations.
Flight captains Sadovnichy and 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 said there was no permission “on the ground” and told them to return to Kabul. The planes did not have enough fuel and had to land in Tajikistan regardless.
Tajik authorities based their smuggling charges on the fact that the pilots had a disassembled engine onboard, which they said they were using for spare parts.
