The legal proceedings of the passenger plane destroyed by a missile over Ukraine in 2014 will be completed on Thursday in the Netherlands.
Three Russians and one Ukrainian will be sentenced on Thursday in the Malaysia Airlines case at the court in The Hague.
The persons are accused of shooting down the Malaysian plane on July 17, 2014.
298 people died in the downing of flight MH17, which flew from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. Among the dead were 196 Dutch citizens.
In 2019, the international criminal investigation group named the Russians as the culprits by Igor Girkin, to Sergey Dubinsky and Oleg Pulatov and Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko.
An international arrest warrant was issued for the suspects
According to a report by the war crimes investigation group Bellingcat, a Malasya Airlines passenger plane was shot down in eastern Ukraine by a Russian-made anti-aircraft missile from an area held by Russian-backed rebels.
Russia has denied its involvement in the tragedy.
Four people are suspected of murder and face a life sentence. The sentence may be reduced if the court finds that the act was not premeditated.
In the light of public evidence, it has become clear that the passenger plane was not necessarily the target of the separatists, but rather a Ukrainian fighter jet. An anti-aircraft missile hit the airliner because the separatists had no surveillance radar.
The defendants will not be seen in court on Thursday because Russia and Ukraine have not handed over the men for trial.
However, victims’ representatives say Thursday’s verdict is an important milestone for the victims’ families.
It is also the first sentence to be handed down for Russia’s meddling in Ukraine’s affairs since the 2014 occupation of Crimea.
The importance of the sentence has grown even more with the war of aggression started by Russia. The Malasya Airlines verdict may affect the decisions of future lawsuits in international courts, according to lawyers interviewed by Reuters.
The main suspect returned to Russia in 2014 and is now serving in the army
The main suspect in the case is 51-year-old Russian citizen Igor Girkin, also known as Strelkov, which loosely translates as shooter.
Girkin, who worked as an intelligence officer for the Russian security service FSB, has played a key role in the separatist battles in eastern Ukraine that began in 2014. He has also served as the defense minister of the government of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic.
Girkin is suspected to have been at the top of the chain of command reaching the Russian armed forces.
– As the highest officer, he contacted Russia when acquiring the missile that shot down MH17, the prosecutors have stated.
In 2014, Girkin was ousted from the Donetsk separatist government and returned to Russia.
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Girkin has commented on the Russian military leadership In Telegram (you switch to another service).
On October 14, he wrote that he was serving in the Russian army.
Girkin’s confidant Dubinsky was responsible for the BUK missile
Sergei Dubinsky, 60, a former intelligence officer in the military intelligence of the Russian Armed Forces, served as an important link between the Russian authorities and the separatist regime in eastern Ukraine.
Dubinsky is suspected of being responsible for transporting the missile to eastern Ukraine before the attack. He was assisted by Oleg Pulatov, who served in the anti-terrorist forces of the Russian intelligence service.
56-year-old Pulatov is the only one of the suspects who has a representative in court. In June, Pulatov gave a video statement to the court in which he says he has nothing to do with the 2014 tragedy.
According to Dutch prosecutors, Ukrainian Leonid Harchenko, who served as commander in the Donetsk region in July 2014, also worked under Dubinsky.
It is suspected that Khartsenko was personally involved in the transportation of the missile.
Sources: AP, Reuters, AFP