Dutch court finds two Russians, one Ukrainian separatist guilty over downing of flight MH17 - CNN

CNN  — 

A Dutch tribunal connected Thursday recovered 2 Russians and a separatist Ukrainian blameworthy of wide execution for their engagement successful the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 implicit eastbound Ukraine successful 2014.

Igor Girkin, a erstwhile colonel of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), and Sergey Dubinskiy, who worked for Russia’s GRU subject quality agency, were convicted on with Ukrainian separatist Leonid Kharchenko, who is believed to person led a combat portion successful Donetsk successful July 2014.

The 3 were sentenced to beingness successful situation and ordered to wage the victims much than 16 cardinal euros, but arsenic the convictions were handed down successful absentia, nary of them are apt to service their sentences. A 4th suspect, Russian nationalist Oleg Pulatov, a erstwhile worker of the Russian peculiar forces Spetsnaz-GRU, was acquitted.

“Causing the clang of Flight MH17 and the murders of each persons connected committee is specified a superior accusation, the consequences are truthful devastating, and the cognition of the accused is truthful reprehensible, that a constricted play of imprisonment volition not suffice,” the tribunal said pursuing the verdict.

Flight MH17 was connected its mode from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur connected July 17, 2014, erstwhile it was changeable retired of the entity implicit territory held by pro-Russian rebels successful eastbound Ukraine. All 298 radical connected committee were killed, including 15 unit members and 283 passengers from 17 countries.

The downing of the pitchy happened successful the aboriginal signifier of the struggle betwixt pro-Russia separatists and Ukrainian forces, a precursor to Moscow’s afloat penetration of Ukraine earlier this year.

Thursday’s verdict, which follows a two-year proceedings astatine the highly secured Schiphol Judicial Complex successful Badhoevedorp, marks the archetypal clip that autarkic judgement has been passed connected the incident, and whitethorn supply immoderate tiny magnitude of justness for the families of the victims.

The lawsuit has go much important successful airy of Russia’s all-out penetration of Ukraine, which is astir successful its ninth month. One ineligible adept told Reuters that the ruling could interaction different cases involving Russia, including 1 astatine the United Nation’s apical court, the International Court of Justice.

The verdict comes weeks aft Moscow sought to illegally annex 4 Ukrainian regions, including the country wherever the tribunal said the rocket that brought down MH17 was fired from 8 years earlier. It besides comes 2 days aft a missile landed successful Poland, raising fears that Russia’s battle connected Ukraine could spill implicit into neighboring countries.

The tribunal recovered that Flight MH17 was deed by a Russian Buk rocket launched from farmland extracurricular a colony successful eastbound Ukraine that was held astatine the clip by pro-Russian rebels who were nether the power of Moscow, and that the rocket strategy had been moved backmost to Russia aft the strike.

The 3 convicted men each played cardinal roles successful and transporting the Buk strategy and its unit into Ukraine, the tribunal ruled, though it recovered determination was insufficient grounds to find who fired the missile.

Presiding justice Hendrik Steenhuis said the tribunal recovered that the firing of the rocket astatine MH17 was a premeditated enactment intended to bring down a level – and portion the unit apt believed they were firing astatine a subject aircraft, it would person been “crystal clear” to them that nary 1 connected committee immoderate targeted craft would survive.

“A Buk limb strategy is designed to sprout down craft and cannot simply beryllium utilized astatine random. Such deployment requires preparation, including determination of and transport to a motorboat site. Firing the rocket needs to beryllium precise deliberate and cautiously considered successful accordance with a method process and requires a highly trained crew. The likelihood of persons connected committee an craft surviving an onslaught by a Buk rocket is nil. Anybody who deploys a specialized, costly limb specified arsenic a Buk TELAR volition beryllium alert of this,” the tribunal said successful a statement.

The tribunal besides ruled that since the defendants were not authoritative parties to the struggle and frankincense did not person combat immunity, they were not allowed to sprout down immoderate aircraft, subject oregon civilian.

Moscow has repeatedly denied immoderate work for the attack, and Russian officials and authorities media person enactment retired a scope of often contradictory explanations for the tragedy.

But connected Thursday, Steenhuis cited a scope of grounds for the court’s verdict and ruled retired immoderate alternate explanations for the incident.

The grounds reviewed by the tribunal included fragments of a Buk rocket recovered embedded successful the craft and the bodies of immoderate victims, intercepted telephone calls and witnesser statements, and videos and images of the country and of a Buk strategy being moved into eastbound Ukraine from Russia and past backmost again.

The convicted men person a close to appeal. Moscow described the verdict arsenic “politically motivated” and said it would not extradite the sentenced Russians to the Netherlands.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the verdict arsenic an important infinitesimal for accountability. “Holding to relationship masterminds is important too, arsenic the feeling of impunity leads to caller crimes. We indispensable dispel this illusion. Punishment for each [Russia’s] atrocities past & present is inevitable,” helium tweeted.

Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said the United States welcomed the court’s determination but that determination was much enactment to do.

“While this is simply a coagulated measurement towards justice, much enactment lies up to conscionable the UN Security Council’s request successful solution 2166 that “those liable … beryllium held to account,” Blinken said successful a statement.