Ukraine still does not know the names of ten Iranian servicemen convicted of selling a Ukrainian UIA passenger plane.
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Chargé d’Affaires of Ukraine in Iran Yevgeniy Kravchenko reported this in a commentary to Ukrinform.
According to the court decision, the main accused, as the main person responsible for the negligent murder of those on board, was sentenced to ten years in prison. His name was not officially reported, nor were the names of other convicts,” Kravchenko said.
On January 8, 2020, a UIA plane flying on the Tehran-Kyiv route was shot down in the skies over Iran. On board were citizens of Iran, Canada, Ukraine, Sweden, Afghanistan and Great Britain. The plane carrying 167 passengers and 9 crew members crashed on the night of January 8 shortly after taking off from Imam Khomeini International Airport. Everyone died, including 11 Ukrainians.
A few days after the air raid, Iranian authorities admitted that the Ukrainian plane was mistakenly shot down by an air defense missile system. In April 2023, an Iranian court sentenced ten Iranian military personnel.
Background
In March 2021, Iran’s civil aviation authority released its final report on the downing of a Ukrainian UIA plane over Tehran. The document states that “the aircraft was identified as a hostile target due to an error by the air defense system operator and two missiles were fired at it.” The name of the operator, whom Iran blamed for the mistake, was not disclosed, writes Word and Deed.
Countries whose citizens died in the crash criticized the Iranian report. Ukraine stated that the investigation was biased and the evidence given was selective. “The document does not give all the circumstances, does not reveal the root causes of the tragedy and the chain of actions that led to it. This is not a report. This is a collection of manipulations, the purpose of which is not to find out the truth, but to justify the Islamic Republic of Iran,” said Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba.
In addition, Ukraine stated that Iran had conducted a technical investigation into numerous violations of international standards.
Canada also noted that the report is not complete and does not answer a number of important questions about the disaster.
At the beginning of June 2021, Ukraine, Canada, Sweden and Britain sent Iran a list of claims in connection with the UIA plane crash. The countries demanded that Iran admit wrongdoing and provide a full account of the circumstances of the tragedy, apologize, return personal belongings of the victims, ensure a fair criminal investigation and pay compensation for damages.
Then in June, Canadian experts presented their report on the crash. They came to three conclusions:
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Iran failed to ensure the safety of its airspace and did not inform airlines of the existing risks;
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the operator of an anti-missile installation deliberately committed a number of gross violations of the rules of live firing, launching two surface-to-air missiles at a civilian aircraft;
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Iran’s military command did not prevent violations by the operator, and the authorities tried to hide the true circumstances of the disaster.
After several rounds of negotiations, Iran agreed to pay the Ukrainian families of the victims $150,000 in compensation, but Ukraine rejected this offer, since the amount of compensation should be determined after establishing the circumstances of the crash and bringing those responsible to justice.
At the end of 2022, Ukraine, Britain, Canada and Sweden initiated arbitration proceedings in a dispute related to the destruction of the aircraft. Iran refused to organize arbitration.
In the spring of 2023, Iran sentenced ten military personnel whom it accused back in June 2021 of selling a Ukrainian aircraft. At the same time, Ukraine was not even given the names of the accused.
Thus, the commander of an air defense unit was sentenced to ten years in prison, and nine other military personnel were given from one to three years in prison. Iran said that the commander of the Tor M-1 air defense system fired two missiles at the aircraft against orders and without permission, his actions “were the result of ignorance of the situation and the erroneous belief that the detected target was hostile.”
In the summer, Ukraine, Canada, Sweden and Britain filed a joint lawsuit against Iran at the International Court of Justice to begin proceedings for violation of the 1971 Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation.
Members of the Coordination Group demand that the International Court of Justice rule on this dispute and find that Iran has committed an internationally wrongful act in accordance with international law. Panel members also demand that the court order Iran to publicly acknowledge its internationally wrongful acts and omissions and publicly apologize to the complainants and families of the victims, the statement said.
It also demands fair compensation from Iran.
Iran responded by saying that the four countries that filed the lawsuit were allegedly pursuing their own political goals and interests.
In October, talks were held for the first time with Iranian officials to discuss state responsibility for the downing of the UIA plane. Iran continues to refuse to acknowledge its full international legal responsibility.
Source: Racurs
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.