MH17 - public prosecutor: life sentence for 4 suspects

[Kitsch 499]

In the process about the downing of flight MH17, the Public Prosecution Service has started the inquest against the four suspects. Over three days, prosecutors will set out how they value the evidence in the case, what they think the three Russians and one Ukrainian can be accused of per person, and what punishment should follow. That sentence will be announced on Wednesday.

The men would all have had their own role in arranging, setting up and later removing a BUK missile installation with which the Malaysia Airlines plane was shot down in the summer of 2014.

Prosecutor Thijs Berger pointed out this morning that the lawsuit is important for the relatives to give the death of their family or loved ones a place. The many misinformation surrounding the conflict in Ukraine disrupts their grieving process.  But the wider interest, Berger argued, is to prevent new, comparable violence. "A world that makes no effort to get to the truth when hundreds of innocents are murdered is outlawing its citizens."

Responsible

He stated that the struggle in Ukraine still has a huge impact on the country and everyone involved in the process. "We regret all the victims, but we must do justice to the 298 occupants of the aircraft."

The Public Prosecution Service has reconstructed the events in July 2014 on the basis of a large number of photos, videos and witness statements. There are also tapped conversations, in which the suspects are said to have talked about the missile installation and the shooting down of MH17.

The four suspects did not press the button with which the missile was launched, but they are responsible for bringing down the device, the prosecutor said. In the eyes of the Public Prosecution Service, it does not matter whether they actually intended it to be a military aircraft: the shooting down of both civil and military aircraft is prohibited.  The four are also accused of provoking other suspects to fire the rocket.

Mistake

Much is already known about the evidence, but it will not be a complete repetition of moves, expects international criminal law expert Marieke de Hoon of the University of Amsterdam. "Now we are being told for each suspect exactly what he would have done, as a result of which MH17 was shot down. The Public Prosecution Service must link the evidence to the crimes charged: the downing of MH17 and the murder of all 298 passengers. "

In order to prove these crimes, there must be intent. Intercepted conversations show that the shooting down of MH17 was a mistake. One of the suspects reportedly reported that a Ukrainian fighter plane had been shot down shortly after the crash.  According to a witness, the astonishment was great when it turned out to be a passenger plane.

“It does not matter to the Public Prosecution Service whether they hit a military or civilian aircraft.”

- Marieke de Hoon, international criminal law expert

On the other hand, the intention was expressly to shoot down a plane, the Public Prosecution Service says. After all, that missile installation was arranged for that.  With this, the suspects have taken a fatal mistake into the bargain, the judiciary argues.

De Hoon: "It does not matter to the Public Prosecution Service whether they hit a military or civilian aircraft. They were not allowed to fire that BUK. They would kill the occupants of any aircraft with it and that is contrary to the law of war. By firing the missile anyway, according to the Public Prosecution Service, they also accepted the significant chance of hitting a passenger plane and thus of murder or manslaughter."

For murder, the Public Prosecution Service must prove that the shooting was premeditated. The officers therefore state that the downing of an aircraft has been prepared for a long time. "The Public Prosecution Service will argue that they had the opportunity to abandon the plan, but went ahead with it anyway."

Lifetime?

It is obvious that the Public Prosecution Service will ask for a long prison sentence, but whether that will be life is not certain in advance. "It is not the case that MH17 was deliberately shot down," says De Hoon.  "That does not matter for the question of guilt, but it can make a difference for the penalty."

She expects that the sentence may also differ per suspect, depending on the role they played in the shooting down of the plane.

Source: NOS (https://nos.nl/l/2410232)

 

[Kitsch 499]

Whenever the criminal sentences are announced, the thread title and the thread will be updated. For a lot of people in The Netherlands, the airplane disaster caused an national grief, and after a lot of years, the movement in the criminal investigation is an important step after 7 years of the disaster.

[thatfoxyfeeling 13,401]

What about Putin? Isn’t he the reason this happened in the first place for invading Ukraine? I remember when this happened and the world imposed sanctions on Russia but feels like Putin got a slap on the wrist. 

[Kitsch 499]

Breaking News:

The Public Prosecution has demanded life sentence for the suspects in the MH17 trial. 

[…] “The suspects have used all-destructive, planned and indifferent violence," said the public prosecutors in the court at Schiphol today. "The occupants have been brutally torn from life. The lives of thousands of relatives have been scarred or even destroyed."

At the time, the suspects held key positions within the rebel groups fighting in eastern Ukraine, where the plane crashed. "War is not a license for violence," said the prosecutor. "The suspects were ordinary citizens who were not allowed to commit any form of violence." 

Source: NOS (https://nos.nl/l/2410493)

[Kitsch 499]

4 minutes ago, thatfoxyfeeling said:

What about Putin? Isn’t he the reason this happened in the first place for invading Ukraine? I remember when this happened and the world imposed sanctions on Russia but feels like Putin got a slap on the wrist. 

I don’t know about any potential sanctions for Putin, but generally more sanctions have been suggested due to the situation in Ukraine and a potential conflict of war between Russia and Ukraine. However, this is a developing case and I am not completely informed on it, although I do believe that if new sanctions will be implemented, that definitely this trial will also be considered.