Malaysia supports the verdict convicting three of the four defendants delivered by the Hague District Court in the case of the MH17 flight crash in Donbas, Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said on Friday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th November, 2022) Malaysia supports the verdict convicting three of the four defendants delivered by the Hague District Court in the case of the MH17 flight crash in Donbas, Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said on Friday.
"Malaysia's stance has always been that the trial should be based on the truth, justice and full of responsibility. In this context, Malaysia fully supports the decision made by the court," the prime minister was quoted as saying by the Bernama news agency.
On Thursday, the Hague court found two Russian citizens, Igor Girkin and Sergei Dubinsky, and one Ukrainian citizen, Leonid Kharchenko, guilty of shooting down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 and sentenced them to life imprisonment in absentia. They also have to pay 16 million Euros ($16.6 million) in damages to the families of the victims. The fourth defendant, Russian national Oleg Pulatov, was acquitted of the charges. The Hague court did not directly link the use of the Buk air defense system that led to the plane crash with Moscow, but said that Russia controlled the region where the incident happened at the time.
Commenting on the judgment, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that the court disregarded the principles of impartial justice for the sake of the current political environment. According to the ministry, both the course and the results of the proceedings indicate that it was based on a political order to corroborate Russia's involvement in the tragedy.
The MH17 passenger flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, crashed in the Donbas conflict zone on July 17, 2014. All 298 passengers, mostly Dutch citizens, and crew members on board were killed.
In 2016, the Dutch-led international Joint Investigation Team, which does not include Russia, concluded that the aircraft was shot by a Russian-made Buk missile that was brought to the Donbas area controlled by independence fighters from a military brigade stationed in the Russian city of Kursk. According to Moscow, the Buk missile belonged to Ukraine and was launched from Kiev-controlled territory.
