Ukrainian Deputy Justice Minister Says Kiev To Get Access To MH17 Case Materials

KIEV (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st December, 2020) Ukrainian Deputy Justice Minister Ivan Lishchyna said Kiev would be able to gain access to the materials on the MH17 crash after the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) linked the case "Ukraine v. Russia" with a lawsuit by the Netherlands connected with the Malaysian Boeing's crash.

As Lishchyna stated on Facebook, the Grand Chamber of the ECHR decided to link to the Ukraine v. Russia re Eastern Ukraine no. 8019/16 case a complaint by the Netherlands numbered 28525/20 concerning an aircraft that crashed in eastern Ukraine in 2014.

According to him, for Ukraine, the benefit is in gaining access to the materials on the MH17 case: Kiev has earlier been denied access, citing the secrecy of the investigation.

The official said that the decision could delay the consideration of the case.

The Malaysian Airlines' aircraft on Flight MH17 crashed on July 17, 2014, in eastern Ukraine while en route to Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam. All 298 people on board were killed. Kiev and the self-proclaimed republics in Donbas, where the plane was shot down, have exchanged blame for the downing.

The investigation into the crash is being conducted by Dutch prosecutors and the Dutch-led Joint Investigation Team (JIT), which has said MH17 was brought down by a missile system that belonged to a Russian air defense missile brigade based near the city of Kursk. Moscow has repeatedly denied the JIT's accusations, saying that the claims were unfounded and the investigation was biased.