Vitaly Kaloyev Released Monday Night

A Swiss court ordered the release last week of a Russian imprisoned for killing an air traffic controller he blamed for his family's death in a 2002 midair collision.

The tribunal, Switzerland’s highest court, rejected an appeal by Zurich prosecutors and ordered Vitaly Kaloyev released because he served more than two-thirds of his sentence with good behavior.

The Associated Press reports two of the court's five judges dissented from the majority, saying the change -- from eight years down to five and half -- reduced the sentence too much.

As ANN reported, Kaloyev was convicted in October 2005 of premeditated homicide in the killing of Danish-born Peter Nielsen, an air traffic controller with Swiss company Skyguide.

Nielsen was the only person on duty when a Bashkirian Airlines plane and a DHL cargo jet collided on July 1, 2002 killing 71 people, mostly schoolchildren on a holiday trip to Spain.

The sentence against Kaloyev was reduced by a regional court in July, which ruled he acted with diminished responsibility because of the deaths of his wife and two children.

Zurich prosecutors appealed the decision. With no more legal obstacles Kaloyev release was scheduled to take place on August 24.

Kaloyev said he could not remember the slaying, but has acknowledged that he must have killed Nielsen in February 2004. He was released from prison Monday night.

"I want to express my great thanks to all the citizens of Russia, to the Russian president for the strong support they extended to me," Kaloyev said upon his arrival at Domodedovo Airport outside Moscow.

"While in prison, I did not feel I was away from my motherland."

Four Skyguide employees were found guilty of negligent homicide in September. Four other officials were acquitted of wrongdoing in a separate proceeding that investigated the actions that led to the crash.

Three midlevel managers were given one-year suspended prison sentences, while another employee -- a project manager -- received a suspended fine of $11,200.

FMI: www.skyguide.ch/en/