Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov. 14 /Trend/
The arrest of Russian pilots in Tajikistan can't help affecting relations between Moscow and
Dushanbe, Itar-Tass reported referring Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
"We hope Tajikistan, when taking decisions with regard to the fate of the Russian pilots, will be guided not only by abstract considerations, but also by the reached level of cooperation with Russia," the president told at a press conference.
The pilots of the Rolkan airline Russian citizen Vladimir Sadovnichy and Estonian citizen Alexei Rudenko were arrested on March 12 after a forced landing at the airport in Kurgan-Tyube. The Tajik court sentenced them to 10.5 years in a tough security penitentiary and commuted the sentence by two years under the presidential amnesty. The pilots were found guilty on all three previous charges, namely the violation of the international flight rules, illegal border transgressing and smuggling. Both airplanes An-72 were confiscated in Tajikistan.