A rocket tears the plane apart. Debris, luggage, body parts lie in the sunflower fields of eastern Ukraine. After a good eight years, the judges are now making their decision. But the perpetrators escape.
It was a bright summer day when the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777, flight number MH17, took off from Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport on July 17, 2014. 12:31 p.m.
The plane exploded less than three hours later. All 298 people on board were dead. At 3:20 p.m., a rocket exploded on the left side of the cockpit a good 10 kilometers above the contested area in eastern Ukraine. Hundreds of tiny particles had pierced the plane. Each one a deadly missile. This Thursday, a criminal court in the Netherlands will announce its verdict against four alleged perpetrators – albeit in absentia.
families among the victims
Piet Ploeg was sitting on a terrace in the Netherlands, having a drink with colleagues, when the report of the crash came. The plane was en route to Kuala Lumpur, and his brother Alex, his sister-in-law Edith and their 21-year-old son Robert were also on board. It got through to him later that day: “They’re gone, forever. And that breaks your heart.”
Ploeg wants to sit in the courtroom at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol on Thursday. Criminal proceedings had been conducted there against four men who were said to be responsible for the shooting down since March 2020. “We’ve waited eight years and four months for this day,” says Ploeg. He is also spokesman for the bereaved. “We hope it will be a day of justice.”
Four Germans on board the plane
The victims came from ten countries, four of them from Germany. Since most were Dutch, the trial takes place there. Hundreds of relatives want to be present at the verdict, about 80 of them from Australia. No one dares to say in advance what the verdict will be. The only thing that is clear is that the four accused – three Russians and one Ukrainian – will not be there and will probably escape their sentence. All four are said to be in Russia. “The country must not extradite its own citizens,” says Marieke de Hoon, a lecturer in international criminal law at the University of Amsterdam.
At the time, the accused held high positions with the pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine: Igor Girkin was once a Russian intelligence officer and commander of the separatists in Donbass, known as “Strelkov”. Sergey Dubinsky, a former Russian officer and Girkin’s deputy. Oleg Pulatov, in turn, was Dubinski’s assistant. Leonid Kharchenko, the Ukrainian, is said to have led a combat unit in the region. According to the indictment, they are said to have procured the Buk anti-aircraft gun and are responsible for launching the missile. The charge is murder on 298 counts. Prosecutors asked for life imprisonment.
Debris and body parts remain for weeks
After the shooting, rubble, pieces of luggage and body parts lay in an area of around 50 square kilometers between sunflower fields for weeks. The machine was later reconstructed from the rubble in the Netherlands for the investigators and judges.
None of the defendants ever appeared in court. Only one, Pulatov, had allowed himself to be defended. “He denies any responsibility,” said his lawyers, demanding an acquittal.
What does Russia have to do with the downing?
Above all, the relatives are hoping for an answer to the question: What does Russia have to do with the shooting down? This question is almost more important than that of the role of the accused, says Ploeg. “Because no state can get away with mass murder.”
The MH17 case has also been a highly explosive political issue since the tragic July 17, 2014. Russia is now not in the dock. However, the court could indirectly establish responsibility. “Our relatives were the first international victims of the Ukraine war,” says Ploeg.
At that time, fighting was already raging in eastern Ukraine’s Donbass. International investigators determined that the Buk missile came from Russia and belonged to the Russian army. According to investigators, she was shot down from a field controlled by the rebels. The gun was then shipped across the border back to Russia. Moscow firmly rejects all allegations and blames Ukraine above all. The Kremlin never recognized the investigations and the court either.
Accused men did not press the button themselves
A crucial question is whether the criminal judges will follow the prosecution’s reasoning. It is clear that the four accused men did not press the button themselves. With a chain of evidence, however, the prosecutors stated that they had taken care of the procurement of the weapon and the shooting down. “According to the arguments of the prosecution, they accepted that they could also hit a civilian plane,” says lawyer Marieke de Hoon.
The prosecution presented a wealth of evidence, photos, videos, data, radio traffic, satellite images. But much of the evidence comes from open sources or from social media. “This digital evidence is new legal territory,” says De Hoon. “Acknowledgment may be important for other war crimes trials.”
The verdict will not be the last word in the MH17 case. Lawyer De Hoon expects a subsequent appeal and also points to further proceedings, such as before the European Court of Human Rights. But Ploeg hopes for a turning point for the relatives. “I hope that many can now distance themselves,” he says. “But closing the chapter, that can never happen.”
Source: Stern
David William is a talented author who has made a name for himself in the world of writing. He is a professional author who writes on a wide range of topics, from general interest to opinion news. David is currently working as a writer at 24 hours worlds where he brings his unique perspective and in-depth research to his articles, making them both informative and engaging.
