NZZ said on its Web site Saturday that the Zurich Court of Appeal upheld an appeal by the defense attorneys of Vitaly Kaloyev, sentenced last October to eight years in jail for killing Swiss national Peter Nielsen.
Nielsen was a Skyguide air traffic controller when Kaloyev's wife and two children perished in the July 2002 air crash in Swiss-controlled airspace over Germany.
The court agreed that Kaloyev's prison term should be reduced, but said it does not doubt the premeditated nature of the crime, despite the lawyers' claims it was a case of involuntary manslaughter, usually punishable with three-year imprisonment.
The Tu-154 plane, operated by Bashkirian Airlines, collided in midair with a DHL-owned Boeing, killing 69 people, including 45 children flying to Spain for a holiday, and two Boeing pilots.
German investigators said the accident happened largely owing to negligence on the part of Skyguide and partially through the fault of the two Russian pilots.
Nielsen was stabbed to death in February 2004 near his house in the Swiss town of Kloten. Kaloyev was arrested in a local hotel the following day.
