VLADIKAVKAZ, October 28 (RIA Novosti) - The president of North Ossetia, a Russian republic in the North Caucasus, confirmed Friday that Vitaly Kaloyev, the man sentenced to eight years in jail for the premeditated murder of a Swiss air traffic controller, wanted to serve his prison sentence in Russia.
"I had the opportunity to meet with him after the court's session, and he said he would not oppose [extradition to Russia]," said Teymuraz Mamsurov, who attended the trial in Switzerland as a private citizen.
The president said he had already met with the Swiss Ambassador in Russia and the Russian Ambassador in Switzerland to negotiate the matter.
On Thursday, the Russian Justice Ministry permitted Kaloyev to serve his sentence in Russia, despite the absence of a prisoner exchange treaty between Russia and Switzerland.
Kaloyev lost his family in a plane crash in July 2002, when a Tu-154 plane owned by Bashkirian Airlines collided with a DHL-owned Boeing over Germany's Lake Constance. Sixty-nine people, including 45 Bashkir children flying to Spain for vacation, and two Boeing pilots, were killed.
German investigators said the accident was largely due to negligence on the part of Skyguide, and partially the fault of the two Russian pilots.
Peter Nielsen, a Skyguide air traffic controller, was stabbed to death on February 24, 2004 near his home in the Swiss town of Kloten. Kaloyev was arrested in a local hotel a day later.
