The accused wanted to shoot down a machine with a Buk missile
Three Russians and one Ukrainian are accused of downing a Malaysian Airlines Boeing in July 2014 with an anti-aircraft missile. The prosecution has now provided ample evidence of this.
Prosecutors Ward Ferdinandos (left) and Tess Berger wait with other members of the court to begin the ongoing trial and criminal proceedings over the crash of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.
Photo: Sim van der Waal (EPA/Keystone)
In the trial of the downing of passenger plane MH17 over eastern Ukraine, the Prosecutor’s Office began reading the pleadings against the defendants. The four former officers of the pro-Russian rebels wanted to shoot down a plane, prosecutors said Monday before the criminal court at Amsterdam airport. “They used the Buk missile to reach their military target,” he added. Among other things, they provided phone calls as evidence.
Three Russians and one Ukrainian are accused of shooting down a Boeing Malaysia Airlines plane in July 2014 with a Russian Buk anti-aircraft missile. The 298 people on board were killed. The trial takes place in the absence of the accused. The prosecution wants to end its case on Wednesday. A ruling is not expected until next year. The process is politically sensitive as Moscow rejects any responsibility. Extradition appears unlikely.
At the start of the meeting, the attorney general, Theis Berger, said it was a matter of revealing the truth. “A scientist who is not looking into the fact that hundreds of innocent people have been killed, declares that his citizens are outside the law,” the public prosecutor said after a report by Dutch television station NOS.
The prosecution presented a large amount of evidence, including photos, recorded phone calls, videos and testimonies. According to the prosecution, this shows that the defendants purchased the Buk missile and were also responsible for the launch. Supposedly it was a mistake and a Ukrainian military machine was supposed to be hit.
In July 2014, fierce fighting broke out between the Ukrainian army and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. The Malaysia Airlines machine was on its way from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. Since most of the victims were Dutch, the trial is also taking place in that country.
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