Pulatov's Defense Asks Dutch Court to Halt MH17 Proceedings Until Lockdown Ends in Russia

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th June, 2020) The defense of Russian national Oleg Pulatov, who is among the defendants in the Dutch hearings into the 2014 MH17 plane crash, asked on Monday to suspend the proceedings until the COVID-19 lockdown ends in Russia, so they could travel to communicate with their client in person.

Earlier in the day, the hearings in the case resumed at the Dutch Schiphol Judicial Complex not far from Amsterdam. Russian nationals Pulatov, Igor Girkin and Sergey Dubinsky, and Ukrainian national Leonid Kharchenko are defendants in the case.

Addressing the court, Pulatov's defense said that to read thousands of pages of the MH17 case, they need much more time. The coronavirus crisis and closure of borders have further complicated this task, as the defense � Dutch lawyers � cannot travel to Russia and talk with their client.

"All these measures have an enormous impact on the defense of Mr Pulatov and the preparation of such defense," they said.

According to the defense, after the first hearing in early March, they planned to spend two weeks in Russia to receive an "input" from Pulatov himself.

"Over the past few months, it became clear that it would be impossible to carry out this plan," the defense said, noting that though the COVID-19 restrictions have been relaxed in the Netherlands, "so far is not the case in Russia," whose borders will be closed until at least the end of June.

The lawyers also ruled out discussing details of their client's defense by phone or the internet, lambasting prosecutors for making such a suggestion at a time when the latter themselves express concerns over Russia's alleged meddling and cybercrimes.

"Communicating remotely is not a possibility .... Such conversation cannot take place over the phone or over the internet. We simply cannot know or guarantee that nobody is listening in to us our conversation," they added.

They also complained about a linguistic problem, as Pulatov speaks neither Dutch nor English, while his defense in the court does not speak Russian. So, while discussing such a "volume" of materials over phone, key details may be lost. Moreover, the materials of the case have not been translated into Russian, so that their client could "have cognizance" of them.

"We would like to put the proceedings on hold ... during the corona limitations as has happened in many cases and to continue afterwards after we have an opportunity to read everything and after we discuss with our client his vision and the decisions we are taking. Because it not our defense, it is his defense," the defense stated.

Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 crashed on July 17, 2014, in eastern Ukraine while en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, killing all 298 people aboard. The accident is being investigated by Dutch prosecutors and the Dutch-led Joint Investigation Team (JIT), which claim that the plane was hit by Russia's Buk missile. Moscow has repeatedly denied involvement in the incident, saying that the JIT had not presented a shred of evidence to support its claims.