The prosecutor’s office in The Hague accused the president of the Russian Federation of involvement in the plane crash, but despite this, the investigation into the MH17 case was stopped.
Prosecutors in The Hague said on February 8 that Russian President Vladimir Putin was involved in the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17. It will be recalled that the plane was shot down by a Buk missile over Donbass on July 17, 2014, when it was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. All 298 people on board were killed.
Investigators in the Netherlands said there were “strong indications” based on intercepted phone conversations that Putin personally approved the transfer of missiles to “Donetsk People’s Republic” militants. The announcement came weeks after a Dutch court found two Russians and a Ukrainian guilty of downing the plane.
What did the investigators say?
The document of the Joint Investigation Group of six countries, which investigated the incident, says: “There are strong indications that the President of Russia decided to hand over the Buk TELAR to DPR militants.”
Specifically, law enforcement officials said Russian officials delayed deciding whether to send weapons to their fighters in eastern Ukraine while Putin was at a D-Day (Opening of the Second Front) celebration in France. in June 2014.
Prosecutors cited two recordings of phone conversations in their testimony. The first was a conversation between Russian officials in 2014, in which one of them indicated that Putin’s approval was needed before a request for weapons made by DNR militants could be give
“It is not known whether the request directly mentioned the Buk system. But shortly, heavy air defense systems were delivered to Donbass, including the Buk that shot down MH17,” the prosecutor’s office said.
Another call was the 2017 conversation between Putin himself and former LNR leader Igor Plotnitsky, where they discussed the military situation and the exchange of prisoners.
But despite signs pointing to Putin’s involvement in the downing of the plane, Dutch prosecutor Digna van Bozelar told a press conference: “The investigation has reached its limit, all leads have been exhausted , so the investigation is suspended.”
Moreover, according to him, Putin, as the head of state, enjoys immunity. He also added that “although we are talking about strong indications, the high bar of complete and convincing evidence has not been reached.”
Pete Ploeg, who lost his brother in a plane crash and heads the MH17 victims’ protection fund, said he was disappointed the investigation was deadlocked, but glad prosecutors were showing their evidence of Putin’s involvement.
“We can’t do anything about it, Putin can’t be prosecuted. We want to know who is ultimately responsible, and that’s clear,” Ploeg added.
It’s still Russia’s fault
Andy Kraag, head of the Dutch National Criminal Investigation Department, said the case could be reopened with new evidence.
“The next answers are in Russia. And until there is cooperation with Russia, these answers will remain there. Our door remains open,” he said.
Prosecutor General of Ukraine Andriy Kostin said that our country “will try to use all existing international legal mechanisms” to bring Putin to justice.
Australia and the Netherlands also said they blamed Russia for the downing of MH17.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte added that he would continue to “hold the Russian Federation to account” in international proceedings, including complaints to the International Civil Aviation Organization and the European Court of Human Rights.
The Kremlin’s reaction
Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on February 9 that Russia “cannot accept” the results of the investigation because it did not take part in the process. He also said that the investigators did not present to the public “corroborating evidence”.
Peskov also said that assumptions about Putin’s personal involvement are unfounded.
“We know that a record of a supposed telephone conversation (Putin and Plotnitsky – ed.) was published, in which not a word was said about any weapons. Although we assume that the this conversation may be true. Here I can neither confirm nor deny, these are not my duties,” said the Kremlin spokesman.
“No one has published other conversations, so it is impossible to say anything here,” Peskov added.
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Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.