Armsdrop case ruling 'shocks' Russians

By Vladimir Radyuhin

MOSCOW, FEB. 3. Life sentences handed down in Calcutta to ethnic Russian pilots for an arms airdrop in India has caused shock and indignation in Russia and may tarnish the image of India as a Russian friend. The Russian Foreign Ministry voiced the hope that Indian authorities would ``soften the sentence taking into account friendly relations between our countries and humanitarian considerations.''

A Foreign Ministry spokesman said Moscow ``will not be indifferent'' to the fate of its citizens. Four of the five crew members, who hail from Latvia, have been given Russian citizenship and Russia's private NTV Television said the case of the fifth was being considered.

Russian media and human rights activists have been more outspoken in their reaction. A popular daily said the charges against the Russian pilots had been ``framed-up'' by Indian security services to justify their failure to nab the men behind the arm smuggling operation.

``The secret services really screwed up and in order to cover their shame, they've handed over innocent people instead of the criminals,'' said the Novyie Izvestia newspaper.

Members of the Moscow-based International Committee for Humanitarian Assistance to the crew members denounced the verdict as unjust and falsified.

``The trial has failed to prove the pilots' guilt,'' said Mr. Grigory Kovrizhenko, the committee's deputy chairman. ``We closely watched the hearings and were amazed at the dirty handling of the case. The CBI proved helpless, indulged in falsifications, and supplied forged documents, which came to light at the trial.''

Mr. Kovrizhenko said his committee would appeal the verdict and take the case to the UN Human Rights Commission.

Mrs. Karina Moskalenko, a Moscow lawyer of the Russian pilots, said the crew ``had just discharged their professional duties, they did not and could not be aware of the weapons on board.''

The Indian embassy in Moscow has been at pains justifying the sentence given to the Russian pilots. ``It's not that they are terrorists - it's that they were involved in the act of abetting terrorism,'' an embassy spokesman told the Moscow Echo radio. But the incident may put to test India's image as one of Russia's most trusted friends. Russian media have been shaken by what they said was `inhuman' treatment of the inmates in the Calcutta jail.

The Novyie Izvestia daily described conditions at the prison as `abominable'and said the Russians ``would have probably died had it not been for the constant attention of the press.''

The Russian crew's lawyers said the men were seriously ill and some of them might not live to see their case appealed. Mr. Igor Moskvitin is said to suffer from tuberculosis, while Mr. Yevgeny Antipenko has had three heart attacks since his arrest.

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