MOSCOW, December 8 (RAPSI) - Russia's Investigative Committee has found no reason for releasing from pre-trial detention and house arrest suspects in Total CEO plane crash in October, Izvestia newspaper reported on Monday.
Mikhail Fedotov, the head of the Kremlin's human rights council, asked earlier Alexander Bastrykin, head of the Investigative Committee, to release employees of Moscow Vnukovo Airport who stand accused of being involved in the plane crash.
Total CEO Christophe de Margerie died in the crash of his Falcon 50 private jet on the evening of October 23 at Vnukovo Airport along with three crew members, all French citizens. The plane, which was scheduled to depart to Paris, hit a snow removal vehicle during takeoff.
Russian authorities have detained until December 21 airport engineer Vladimir Ledenev and snowplow driver Vladimir Martynenko. Air traffic control trainee Svetlana Krivsun and flight supervisor Roman Dunaev were placed under house arrest.
All employees of the airport stand accused of violation of air traffic rules which resulted in death of two and more people. They face up to seven years in prison each.
All defendants have pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against them.
Other employees of Vnukovo International Airport claimed their colleagues to be innocent, citing the subpar tracking devices and the difficulty of tracking something as small as a snowplow vehicle across the radar.