BALI (Indonesia), April 22 (RAPSI) - A district court in Singapore on Monday charged a Russian national with threatening to blow up a Singapore Airlines plane, The Straits Times wrote on Monday.
According to flight attendant Isaac Joseph Pragasam, tax consultant Vitaly Vlada, 26, who was on the Moscow-Singapore flight on April 16, asked the flight attendant for water and then told him: "You better get back to me. If not, I'll blast this aircraft."
Speaking through a Russian interpreter, Vitaly agreed that he had requested water. He said he then turned to his friend seated next to him to say in Russian that if he does not get water to drink, he might vomit.
He added that the Russian word 'vomit' sounds very much like 'blow up,' and this may have created a misunderstanding.
Vlada has been released on bail of 8,000 Singapore dollars (around $6,450) until his hearing, which has been set for June 3-7. If found guilty, he could be fined or imprisoned, or both.
"The Russian Embassy in Singapore has been monitoring this case from the first day, providing any necessary consular assistance to the Russian national," head of the embassys consular section Bulat Dondukov told RIA Novosti by telephone.