Downed airliner MH17: The most important of the court ruling The invisible footballers of Qatar

The accident flight #MH17 – a chronicle

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The accident flight #MH17 – a chronicle

source: x02994 / antonio bronic

It was one of the long-awaited court hearings of recent years: the background to passenger flight MH17. This week was the day and the verdict in the case in the Netherlands.

What happened?

It was a bright summer day when the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777, flight number MH17, took off from Amsterdam on July 17, 2014. 12:31 p.m. The plane exploded less than three hours later.

All 298 people on board were dead. At 3:20 p.m., a missile exploded on the left side of the cockpit, over 10 kilometers above the disputed area in eastern Ukraine. Hundreds of small particles had pierced the plane. Each and every one of them deadly missiles.

After it was shot down, debris, pieces of luggage and body parts lay for weeks in an area of ​​about 50 square kilometers between sunflower fields. The machine was later reconstructed from the rubble in the Netherlands for the detectives and judges.

What has the court decided?

Now a criminal court in the Netherlands has sentenced three men to the maximum sentence for murder in 298 counts. Life imprisonment. According to the judges, the two Russians and a Ukrainian were responsible for obtaining the Russian Buk missile that shot down the plane. Another suspect was acquitted. However, the dock remained empty on Thursday. The convicts would be in Russia and it is highly unlikely that they will ever serve their sentences.

“The country may not extradite its own citizens,” says Marieke de Hoon, lecturer in international criminal law at the University of Amsterdam.

The judges read out the verdict in the heavily secured court at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. The Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 left there exactly eight years and four months ago.

What do relatives say?

At the time, Piet Ploeg was having a drink with colleagues on a terrace in the Netherlands when the report of the accident came in. The plane was en route to Kuala Lumpur and his brother Alex, his sister-in-law Edith and their 21-year-old son Robert were also on board. Later that day it dawned on him: “They’re gone, forever. And that breaks your heart.”

Ploeg was now also in court. There has been a criminal case against four men since March 2020. “We have waited eight years and four months for this day,” he said. He is also a spokesperson for the next of kin. “A Day of Justice.”

The president of the court Hendrik Steenhuis remembered in detail the torment of the relatives. “This sentence cannot take away the suffering, but the court hopes that clarity about the question of guilt can bring some relief to the relatives.”

Who are the perpetrators?

Igor Girkin is considered the main culprit. He was once a Russian intelligence officer, commander of the separatists in Donbass and defense minister. Sergei Dubinsky, a former Russian officer and Girkin’s deputy, coordinated the procurement and transport of the missile, according to the verdict. According to the verdict, Leonid Chartschenko, the only Ukrainian and head of a combat unit in the region, was directly involved in the delivery and ordered its use.

None of the defendants have ever appeared in court. Only one, the Russian Oleg Pulatow, had allowed himself to be defended. It is he who was acquitted.

What are the reactions?

The victims came from ten countries, four of which were from Germany. Since most of them were Dutch, the trial took place there. “With the verdict we are one step closer to the truth and justice for the victims and their families,” Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Twitter. And NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also spoke of an important sign. “There can be no impunity for such crimes.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the verdict “important”. “But it is necessary to hold the customer accountable,” he wrote on Twitter, making it clear that he saw the Russian leadership as responsible.

What does Russia have to do with it?

The relatives had also hoped for an answer to the question: what does Russia have to do with the shooting? “Because no state gets away with mass murder,” says Ploeg, the spokesman for the relatives.

The MH17 case has been a highly charged political issue since the tragic July 17, 2014. Russia was not in the dock. However, the court found indirect responsibility. At that time, fighting was already raging in the Donbass in eastern Ukraine. International investigators determined that the Buk missile came from Russia and belonged to the Russian army. The gun was then returned across the border to Russia.

The court endorses these assessments. Russia effectively controlled the area, Judge Steenhuis said. “Russia supplied weapons, soldiers and other goods.” Moscow has so far firmly rejected all allegations, blaming Ukraine in particular. The Kremlin never acknowledged the investigations and the court.

It is clear that the convicts did not press the button on the gun themselves. But the court saw it as proven that they were responsible for purchasing the gun and ultimately firing it. “According to the arguments of the Public Prosecution Service, they accepted that they could also hit a civilian aircraft,” says lawyer Marieke de Hoon.

The prosecution presented a wealth of evidence: photos, videos, data, radio traffic, satellite images. Much of the evidence comes from open sources or from social media. “This digital evidence is new legal territory,” says De Hoon. “Recognition could be important for other war crimes trials.”

How’s it going from here?

The verdict should not be the last word in the MH17 trial. Lawyer De Hoon expects an appeal later and also points to further procedures, such as at the European Court of Human Rights. But Ploeg hopes for a turning point for the relatives. “I hope many can now distance themselves,” he says. “But closing the chapter, that can never happen.” (dab/aeg/sda/dpa)