Thailand is considering an opportunity of releasing the crewmembers of an IL-76 cargo plane that has been detained in Thailand, BelTA learnt from Mariya Vanshina, deputy head of the information department of the Foreign Ministry of Belarus.
On 19 January the Foreign Ministry of Belarus sent a note to the Foreign Ministry of Thailand with a request to assist with the releasing of a Belarusian member of the crew. The Consul of the Republic of Belarus to Vietnam is ready to leave for Bangkok as soon as it possible to render consular assistance to the Belarusian citizen.
The charges against the crew of the IL-76 plane that was detained with armaments on board in the airport of Bangkok have been dropped. All the crewmembers including the Belarusian national will be freed immediately after the statement makes public on 29 January.
The IL-76 cargo plane with almost 40 tonnes of armaments on board was detained in Bangkok on 11 December 2009 where it landed for refueling. The crew claimed that they knew nothing about the cargo and were told they were transporting oil well drilling equipment. According to Thai laws, the crew could have been sentenced to death.
