Swiss prosecutor Bernhard Hecht answers questions in Buelach, Switzerland, after the verdicts in the trial against employees of Swiss air traffic control Skyguide, September 4, 2007.
Photo: AP
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Sentencing in Bashkirian Airlines Collision
The Federal Administrative Court of Switzerland has passed sentences in the case of eight air dispatchers at the Zurich Skyguide center accused of negligence in the collision of a Bashkirian Airlines Tu-154M and a DHL aircraft over Lake Constance on July 1, 2002, resulting in 71 deaths. Three of the dispatchers were found guilty of gross negligence and given one-year suspended sentences. Another was fined 13,500 Swiss francs ($11,200) and four were found acquitted of the charges. The court did not hear testimony from the victims' family or their lawyers.
Controller Peter Nielsen would undoubtedly have faced charges as well, but he was stabbed to death on February 24, 2004, by Russian citizen Vitaly Kaloev, who lost his wife and children in the collision. Of the 71 victims, 69 were Russian citizens, and the majority were children on their way to vacation. Kaloev was sentenced to eight years in prison, but his sentence was later reduced to five years, three months.
The defendants in the case did not acknowledge their guilt, lying all responsibility on Nielsen. The prosecution laid the blame on the Skyguide management, which reduced the number of dispatchers on duty at night to one. Judge Rainer Hohler noted that the accident could have been avoided with two dispatchers on duty. The prosecution demanded 6- to 15-months suspended sentences for the defendants. Under Swiss law, a convict must pay 100 Swiss francs (about $82) per day for the length of their sentences in order to remain in freedom.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Sep. 05, 2007
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