MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th April, 2023) The Iranian commander of a Tor-M1 system responsible for the 2020 deadly downing of a Ukrainian passenger plane near Tehran has been sentenced to 13 years in prison alongside nine other defendants who have received sentences ranging from one to three years, Iranian media reported, citing the country's judiciary.
The military court held 20 hearings and reviewed 117 lawsuits before issuing sentences to the 10 defendants, the IRNA news agency said.
The commander who received the longest sentence was found guilty of breaching his superiors' order and firing two rockets toward the Ukrainian passenger plane, which he mistook for a cruise missile, without receiving clearance from the command, the news agency said, citing the verdict. He will have to pay compensations to the families of the victims, and the time he has already spent in custody will be deducted from the sentence.
The court's verdict is preliminary and can be appealed within the next 20 days, IRNA said.
On January 8, 2020, a Boeing 737 operated by Ukraine International Airlines was downed soon after departing from Tehran. The crash killed all 176 people on board, including nationals of Iran, Canada, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Germany, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
Iran later said that its military had shot down the plane by accident, confusing it for a hostile cruise missile during an escalation with the United States over Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani's assassination.
The Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruled in May 2021 that Iran had deliberately downed the Ukrainian airliner, deeming the incident an act of terrorism under the Criminal Code of Canada. Tehran criticized the decision as groundless and politically-motivated.
