Burton Mail

Three convicted over downing of Flight MH17

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A DUTCH court has convicted two Russians and a Ukrainian separatist of the murders of 298 people who died in the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine in 2014.

Presiding Judge Hendrik Steenhuis said evidence presented by prosecutor­s at a trial that lasted more than two years proved that the Boeing 777 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was brought down by a Buk missile fired by promoscow Ukrainian fighters on July 17 2014.

One Russian was acquitted because of a lack of evidence. The three who were convicted were sentenced to life imprisonme­nt.

Against the geopolitic­al upheaval caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the court also held that Moscow had overall control of the separatist Donetsk People’s Republic in eastern Ukraine, from where it said the attack was launched.

None of the defendants appeared for the trial that began in March 2020 and it is unlikely they will serve any sentence any time soon.

The prosecutio­n had sought life sentences for all four. Prosecutor­s and the suspects have two weeks to file an appeal.

Judge Steenhuis opened Thursday’s hearing and said “the court takes the view that the MH17 was brought down by a Buk missile” launched from an agricultur­al field in eastern Ukraine.

“The truth on the table - that is the most important thing,” said Anton Kotte, who lost his son, daughter-in-law and six-year-old grandson when MH17 was shot down.

Robbert van Heijningen, whose brother, sister-in-law and nephew were killed, called the downing “an act of barbarism” that he could never put behind him, regardless of the verdict.

“I call it a stone in my heart, and stones... don’t disappear,” he said.

The Hague District Court sat at a high-security courtroom at Schiphol Airport.

Dutch prosecutor­s said the missile launcher came from the 53rd Anti-aircraft Missile Brigade, a unit of the Russian armed forces based in the Russian city of Kursk and was driven back there after MH17 was shot down.

The suspects are not accused of firing the missile but of working together to get it to the field where it was fired. They are accused of bringing down the plane and the murder of all those on board.

 ?? ?? Investigat­ors examine pieces of the Malaysia Airlines flight
Investigat­ors examine pieces of the Malaysia Airlines flight

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