03 July 2007, 18:18
Verdict to Kaloev who killed SkyGuide's air traffic controller commuted
The Swiss Zurich canton court has cut the prison term for Vitaly Kaloev, a Russian citizen and resident of North Ossetia, down to 5 years and three months. He was condemned for murdering in February 2004 Peter Nielsen, a Swiss air traffic controller of the SkyGuide Company, who was involved in the accident of the Russian aircraft Tu-154 over the Bodensee.
When considering the convict's appeal, the canton court has recognized the existence of mitigating circumstances in this case, the "Interfax" reports.
Nielsen was in charge of air traffic control on the night of July 2, 2002, when in his guidance zone the Tu-154 of the "Bashkir Airline" crashed into the American cargo "Boeing." A total of 71 persons, basically Russian children who were flying for their vacation to Spain, perished. V. Kaloev lost his wife and two children in the accident.
The "Caucasian Knot" has informed earlier that Kaloev put his knife into Nielsen on February 24, 2004, near his house in the city of Kloten, where Kaloev was arrested on the following day in one of the hotels. On October 26, 2006, the court in Zurich sentenced Vitaly Kaloev to eight years of a strict custody colony for intentional homicide of dispatcher Nielsen.
