The crash of flight MH17 in Ukraine. three of the four defendants were sentenced to life in absentia

The event finds unique resonance in the current era. A Dutch court on Thursday (November 17) sentenced three men to life in absentia for the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine, amid rising tensions over the Russian invasion. All 283 passengers and 15 crew members were killed.

“The court imposes life imprisonmentRussians Igor Girkin and Sergey Dubinsky and Ukrainian Leonid Khartchenko, who were found guilty of murder and participation in the downing of the plane, announced presiding judge Hendrik Stenhuis. The fourth defendant, Russian Oleg Pulatov, was released. He was the only one who had legal representation.

The international group of investigators came to the conclusion that the plane was shot down by a missile brought from a Russian military base in the conflict zone with pro-Russian separatists, probably to fight against Ukrainian forces. Since then, Kiev and Moscow have been blaming each other.

It was hit by a Russian-made missile

On the day of the tragedy, contact with the plane was lost around 4 p.m., about fifty kilometers from the Russian border. It crashed a few minutes later near the village of Hrabove, Donetsk region. The wreckage of the plane is scattered over a radius of more than 10 kilometers, suggesting that it broke up in flight. But the military context makes access to the site and investigation difficult. At the time, this required daily negotiations by several countries and international agencies.

A year after the accident, in July 2015, Malaysia proposed to the UN Security Council to establish an international tribunal, but Russia vetoed it as a permanent member. Ultimately, the investigation is led by the Dutch public prosecutor’s office and reports its findings on September 28, 2016, according to them, the plane was shot down mid-flight by a Russian-designed medium-range BUK anti-aircraft missile. A system used by many countries, including Russia and Ukraine.

But this particular missile would have been transported from Russia, the prosecution finds out. In May 2018, an international team of Dutch, Australian, Ukrainian, Belgian and Malaysian investigators reached the same conclusion, adding that the weapon belonged to Russia’s 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade.

“Targeting Error”

The four defendants were suspected of playing a central role in securing the missile system, possibly intended to shoot down a Ukrainian warplane. “If that was their intention, it does not change the prosecution that it is a criminal act.Prosecutor Theiss Berger told Dutch judges during a trial in December 2021. A mistake of purpose does not change the proof of the commission of such a crime.“.

Russian Igor Girkin, under his full name”Strelkovspecifically targeted at “wrongon the day of the accident was posted on the Russian social network. This former FSB is often named by Western authorities as the GRU commander and defense minister of the Donetsk People’s Republic during the 2014 war. Immediately after the plane crash, he took to the social network “Vkontakte” to have his troops. He shot down the Antonov An-26 plane at the plane’s crash site, deleting his record half an hour later.

In separate civil lawsuits in the US, relatives of seventeen victims are already seeking $850 million in damages. The plaintiffs accuse him of having acted “real or apparent powerby Vladimir Putin.

Relatives were suspended from judgment

Among the others convicted is 57-year-old Sergei Dubinsky, who is believed to have ties to Russian military intelligence. Leonid Kharchenko, 48, is reported to have led a separatist group in eastern Ukraine. As for 53-year-old Oleg Pulatov, a white Russian, he is a former member of the Russian special forces and Dubinsky’s deputy.

they “they did not push the button, but (…) used their armed struggle to destroy the plane;– explained the prosecutor, referring to the fact that four men served.their military interests“. The trial proceeded before three judges, but without a jury. The Dutch legal system follows a civil law model, and criminal proceedings give a more active role to judges, who are empowered to direct investigations and question witnesses.

In total, 193 Dutch, 43 Malaysians (including 15 crew members), 27 Australians, 12 Indonesians, 10 British, 4 Germans, 4 Belgians, 3 Filipinos, one Canadian and one New Zealander died.