14 November 2013, 20:52
In Moscow, picketers urge "Aeroflot" to respect "Olympic principles"
In Moscow, picketers have called the "Aeroflot", which is the general partner of the Olympic Games, to respect "the fundamental Olympic principles", which are incompatible with any form of discrimination. They demanded to release Alexei Shlyapnikov, Valery Pimoshenko and Sergey Knyshov, the leaders of the trade union of the Sheremetyevo aircraft personnel (known as ShPLS), who were arrested on suspicion of fraud and extortion of money from the "Aeroflot" bosses.
The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed by Alfred Malinovskiy, the vice-president of the Interstate Federation of Trade Unions of aircraft personnel of Russia, that "the public was misled; the mud was thrown on the activists; and provocations were arranged against them, which resulted in the arrest of the trade union leaders."
According to Mr Malinovskiy's version, the union leaders had planned to meet representatives of the administration of "Aeroflot" to solve the problems with payments to pilots for increased load and night flights; therefore, the union leaders were "framed".
The protest action is not only about the aircraft personnel, but also all the passengers, since the policy of the current leaders of civil aviation is aimed primarily at saving money, and very often – at the expense of flight safety, said the Honoured Pilot Nikolai Detinkin, one of the picketers.
Author: Natalia Krainova Source: CK correspondent
