Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov. 19 /Trend/
The Foreign Ministry of Tajikistan "expressed concern over the situation that has developed around labour migrants in Russia", Itar-Tass reported referring to the Tajik Deputy Foreign Minister Makhmudzhon Sobirov.
At a meeting with Russian Ambassador to Tajikistan Yuri Popov, Sobirov expressed concern that "some Russian ranking officials and the mass media, commenting on the case of the convicted Russian citizen, express very negative views with respect to Tajikistan, Tajik people and the country's leadership".
He believes that "such comments as well as lopsided and biased coverage of the situation by the Russian official mass media are at variance with the spirit of strategic partnership that has developed between Tajikistan and Russia as well as good and friendly relations".
The Tajik diplomat expressed regret over "lending political colouring to the above case, having utterly juridical nature".
In March the two pilots were detained by Tajikistan's security service after landing at Tajik Kurgan-Tyube airfield with two An-72 transport aircrafts, one of which was carrying a spare engine described by the court as a "smuggled engine."
The sentence on the pilots was announced on Nov. 8 and was called "extremely severe and politically motivated" by Moscow.
At the meeting the Tajik side reproached Russia that "actions of Russian competent bodies on migration questions have damaged the level of bilateral relations; cases of unlawful treatment of Tajik citizens in the Russian Federation have become more frequent".
Turning to the juridical examination of the case of Russian citizen Sadovnichy, the Tajik diplomat emphasized that "law enforcement bodies of his country are already examining this question in the framework of national legislation and Tajikistan's international obligations, and an appropriate decision will be taken in the near future".
In turn, the Russian ambassador expressed hope for the earliest solution of the situation and assured the Tajik side that he would convey the concern over the present situation to his country's leadership.