A Russian tourist Anatoly Valenko intended to fly back to his home city of Krasnoyarsk after spending his holiday in India when Indian custom officers at the Goa airport found a hunting cartridge of the 12th caliber in his backpack.
The hearing of the court is to take place on January 27.
At the moment Mr. Valenko is kept at an Indian prison, in a cell with 18 other detainees. Anatoly Valenko said in a phone conversation with his relatives living in Krasnoyarsk that the staff of the tour company that had arranged his trip to India brought him food and that the necessary amount of money to pay for the lawyer’s services ($2,000) had already been collected.
According to the representatives of the Consulate department of the Embassy of the Russian Federation in India, the outcome of the case doesn’t depend on the Indian judge anymore. Mr. Valenko can be released right in the courtroom but the court may decide on the prolongation of proceedings which may take several months.
