Eight years after Malaysia Airlines MH17 crash, 3 sentenced to life
Civil Aviation Resource Network News on November 18, 2022: According to comprehensive foreign media news, on November 17 local time, a Dutch court handed down a verdict on the crash of Malaysia Airlines MH17 in 2014. Two Russians and one Ukrainian were found guilty of murder , and sentenced to life imprisonment. The fourth Russian accused was acquitted due to lack of strong evidence.
On July 17, 2014, MH17 took off from Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands, and was scheduled to fly to Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, but was hit by a missile over eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board (including 3 babies). The second victim was a Dutch national.
Eight years have passed since the Malaysia Airlines MH17 crash. In fact, although the international community has launched a series of investigations, there have always been different opinions and constant disputes about who should be held responsible for this tragedy.
A joint investigation team formed by the Netherlands, Malaysia, Ukraine, Belgium, and Australia released an investigation report in September 2016, saying that the passenger plane was hit and crashed by a "Buk" missile. The missile launch system came from Russia, and the missile came from Ukraine. It was launched from a village in the east controlled by pro-Russian fighters.
In October 2015, Russia's Diamond-Antai Group released its own investigation report on the air crash, claiming that the missile launch area was controlled by Kyiv when the air crash occurred. In addition, with regard to what Dutch experts claimed that the plane crashed due to the explosion of a 9N314M warhead, which was loaded with 9M38 series missiles, the Russian side stated that the Russian armed forces are not equipped with 9M38 missiles.
According to a report by the Russian Satellite News Agency on the 18th, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated that Russia regrets that the Hague Court disregarded the principle of fair justice for political purposes. The political order against Russia is the basis for hearing the MH17 case. The Russian Foreign Ministry emphasized that throughout the process the court was under unprecedented pressure from Dutch politicians, representatives of the public prosecution and the media, who imposed political motives on the outcome of the trial, pointing out that objectivity and impartiality are not necessary in this case sex.