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Russian, Estonian pilots released in Tajikistan

© RIA Novosti . Lidiya Isamova / Go to the mediabankRussian, Estonian pilots released in Tajikistan
Russian, Estonian pilots released in Tajikistan - Sputnik International
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A court in Tajikistan freed on Tuesday the Russian and Estonian pilots sentenced to eight and a half years in jail for smuggling and border violations after two weeks of diplomatic and economic wrangling with the Russian authorities.

A court in Tajikistan freed on Tuesday the Russian and Estonian pilots sentenced to eight and a half years in jail for smuggling and border violations after two weeks of diplomatic and economic wrangling with the Russian authorities.

Vladimir Sadovnichy and Estonian national Alexei Rudenko were arrested after flying into southern Tajikistan in March and jailed on November 8. Moscow said the charges were "politically motivated” and deported several hundred Tajik migrant workers, a move it denied was connected to the case.

Prosecutor Azim Azimov, who earlier said the sentence was "too harsh," asked the court on Tuesday to reduce the term to two and a half years. He also suggested the pilots be released in amnesty ending on December 1 as they had already spent six months in custody.

After four hours of consideration, the court granted the appeal from the prosecutors and lawyers for the pilots.

"The main thing is that I am free, the rest will be later," Sadovnichy said hugging his son for the first time in the past six months.

"I thank everyone who helped set us free," he added.

Sadovnichy thanked his family and Dmitry Kabayev of the Russian Embassy in Tajikistan.

"After I met him in person, I understood that Russia is with me and it won't forsake me," said the pilot, who was later driven from the court to the Tajik capital Dushanbe in an embassy car.

The Russian Foreign Ministry hailed the court decision. "The Russian Foreign Ministry welcomes the Tajik court's decision to release Russian national Sadovnichy from custody," the ministry said.

Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet, who is visiting Australia, also applauded the court decision.
“It is good that this decision was made today and I am very pleased that Alexei Rudenko and his colleague Viktor Sadovnichy have been released,” he said.
Paet said the Estonian diplomats had worked closely with Tajik and EU officials on the issue, and he personally spoken to his Tajik counterpart over the phone.
The minister said an Estonian embassy official who had been following the trial in Tajikistan was preparing to fly with Rudenko to Estonia

The case demonstrated once again Russia's attempts to retain its one-time domination over former Soviet republics by using political and economic levers. Over half of poverty-stricken Tajikistan's GDP is made up of money migrant workers send home from Russia.

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