The defense counsel for Oleg Pulatov, one of the four defendants in the case concerning the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine, has asked for Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov to take the stand and face questions over a video of the event
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th November, 2020) The defense counsel for Oleg Pulatov, one of the four defendants in the case concerning the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine, has asked for Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov to take the stand and face questions over a video of the event.
"Avakov posted a YouTube link with a video after the disaster. Apparently, he stated that secret units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs observed the movement of the missile system towards the border with Russia on July 18. He also pointed out that this is a Buk [missile system], which could have shot down flight MH17 the day before," Boudewijn van Eijck said during a hearing in the Netherlands on Wednesday.
The defense team is seeking to question Avakov as a witness, given that the video raises many questions, the lawyer said.
"The defense also wants to interrogate Arsen Avakov as a witness, and ask him questions about how and why this video attracted his attention," van Eijck added.
Many experts have called the video that Avakov posted, which purportedly showed a tractor carrying a Buk missile system toward the Russian border, a fake.
The trial of Pulatov and three other defendants in relation to the MH17 plane crash began in the Netherlands this past March.
Kiev and the self-proclaimed republics in Donbas have accused each other of shooting down the aircraft, which was bound for the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam. All 298 people on board the aircraft died in the incident that took place on July 17, 2014.
The Russian authorities have criticized the Dutch investigation for ignoring radar data presented by Moscow, which it says shows that the plane was shot down by a Ukrainian Buk missile.
