DUSHANBE, Tajikistan (AP) — A court in Tajikistan has freed two jailed pilots in a move that likely will help soothe the impoverished Central Asian nation's troubled ties with Russia.
Prosecutors had requested Tuesday the court reduce the sentences against Russian pilot Vladimir Sadovnichy and Estonian citizen Alexei Rudenko on charges of illegally flying into Tajikistan and smuggling aircraft parts.
The conviction prompted Russia to unleash a retaliatory wave of deportation orders against hundreds of Tajik laborers.
Tajikistan’s economy relies heavily on the remittances provided by the many hundreds of thousands of Tajiks working in Russia.
Sadovnichy and Rudenko have been in prison since their arrest in March.
The court reduced their 8 1/2 year sentence to two and half years, but the men will be released because of a general amnesty commuting jail terms by two years.
