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Armenian pilots released in Equatorial Guinea return home

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  • Armenian pilots released in Equatorial Guinea return home

    ITAR-TASS News Agency
    TASS
    June 11, 2005 Saturday 7:50 AM Eastern Time

    Armenian pilots released in Equatorial Guinea return home

    By Tigran Liloyan

    YEREVAN

    Armenian pilots who got out of jail in Equatorial Guinea a few days
    ago have returned home.

    In January 2004, crew captain Ashor Karapetian and pilots Samvel
    Darbinian, Samvel Machkalian, Ramzik Khachatrian, Suren Muradian, and
    Ashot Simonian left on a contract for Africa as the crew of an
    Antonov-12 turboprop.

    As the were leaving their homeland, however, they could not even
    image that the authorities of Equatorial Guinea would put them into
    jail a mere two months later on the charges that they had taken part
    in an attempted military coup.

    In November 2004, a Guinean court sentenced Karapetian to 24 years in
    jail and the rest of the crew, to 14 years.

    The country's President pardoned them, however, by a decree issued
    June 6, 2005.

    Their route back home lay via Zurich and Moscow, where they addressed
    a news conference at Itar-Tass headquarters.

    One of the things they told reporters Friday was that they had been
    kept in shackles for 15 months.

    Ara Abramian, the president of the World Armenian Congress and the
    Union of Russian Armenians, played a crucial role in attaining their
    release.

    Armenia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement on the release it was
    satisfied with the fact. It thanked the President and other
    government officials of Equatorial Guinea for a show of understanding
    of the problem.
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