Almost seven years later MH17 passenger flight drop The main proceedings against four alleged perpetrators in the Netherlands will begin Monday morning in eastern Ukraine. Initially, the court said, the case would be discussed in the privately secured judicial building at Amsterdam Airport. From Tuesday to Thursday there will be investigations against the accused – three Russians and one Ukrainian.
According to the Dutch Public Prosecutor’s Office, Boeing 777 Malaysia Airlines It was shot down by pro-Russian rebels with a Russian anti-aircraft missile over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014. All 298 people on board were killed, including 196 Dutch and 38 Australians. Among the victims were four Germans. The plane was from Amsterdam to the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur was on the way.
The trial takes place without the accused
None of the accused will attend the trial. Only the Russian Oleg Bulatov, who played a leading role in the secret service of the self-proclaimed republic Donetsk He is said to have played, and can be represented by lawyers in court. He had declared that he was not responsible.
Dutch judges inspected for the first time at the end of May debris. For this purpose, parts of the aircraft were assembled at the Dutch military airport Giles-Rhein.
The Holland And the Australia It was Russia The downing of the machine was blamed for the deaths of 298 passengers after a team of experts concluded in 2018 that the machine had been shot down by a Russian missile from an anti-aircraft brigade in Kursk, Russia.
Russia denies any role in the case and withdrew for talks last October. The Russian government knows this Holland Announcement Angry, crash before European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) want to bring. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte He described the Russian decision at the time as “particularly painful” for the bereaved victims.
Relatives of the victims erected 298 empty chairs in front of the Russian embassy in The Hague on Sunday – one for each dead person. Waarheidsvinding group MH17 (Finding the Truth MH17) has accused Russia of covering up its involvement in the downing of MH17.