Attorney General Birgit van Roessel has joined the prosecutor team in the trial of the MH17 airplane crash in eastern Ukraine, in a bid to strengthen the case and increase convictions, the Dutch prosecutor's office said on Monday
PARIS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th August, 2021) Attorney General Birgit van Roessel has joined the prosecutor team in the trial of the MH17 airplane crash in eastern Ukraine, in a bid to strengthen the case and increase convictions, the Dutch prosecutor's office said on Monday.
"Some amendments are taking place in the team of the public prosecutors of the MH17 trial. Attorney General B. (Birgit) van Roessel has been added to the team of public prosecutors. Van Roessel has had a long career at the Netherlands Public Prosecution Service and is now employed full time at the MH17 team," the statement said.
In addition, prosecutor Ward Ferdinandusse will be appointed as the lead investigator in the Kosovo specialist prosecutor's office in addition to his position as part of the Dutch team.
The prosecutor's office added that the hearings will resume on August 6.
In July 2014, the MH17 flight en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashed near Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. All 298 people on board died, most of them were Dutch citizens.
A Dutch-led international group of investigators claims that a Buk missile belonging to Russia downed the plane. Moscow, in turn, has repeatedly denied the allegations. Though Russia offered help in the investigation, it was denied access to the probe.
The trial relating to the catastrophe started in the Netherlands in March 2020 and includes four suspects - Russian nationals Igor Girkin, Sergey Dubinsky and Oleg Pulatov, and Ukrainian national Leonid Kharchenko.
