Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov. 21 / Trend V.Zhavoronkova/
The case of Russian and Estonian pilots sentenced to eight and a half years in prison in Tajikistan will be reconsidered in the Khatlon District court on Tuesday, Asia-plus reported on Monday.
The court will consider appeals by pilots Vladimir Sadovnichiy and Alexei Rudenko and the protest of Khatlon District prosecutor's office.
The two pilots were detained by Tajikistan's security service in March 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.
The aircrafts, operated by Rolkan Investments, departed from Kabul, Afghanistan and was bound for Moscow. After entering Tajikistan's airspace it was ordered to return to Kabul by Tajik air traffic controllers. The pilots said they could not comply due to the lack of fuel and landed at Kurgan-Tyube instead.