Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday floated the idea of forming a special court to investigate the downing of the Ukrainian passenger plane due to the sensitive nature of the situation
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th January, 2020) Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday floated the idea of forming a special court to investigate the downing of the Ukrainian passenger plane due to the sensitive nature of the situation.
On Wednesday, a Boeing 737 operated by Ukraine International Airlines crashed soon after departing from an airport in Tehran. Citizens of Iran, Canada, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Germany, Sweden and the United Kingdom were among the 176 passengers and crew who died. On Saturday, Iran revealed that its military had shot down the plane by accident.
"The judiciary should hold a special court with a high-ranking judge and dozens of experts. This is not a normal case and the whole world will follow the case in our court," Rouhani said while visiting an agriculture conference, as quoted by his official website.
He added that no single individual could be held responsible, but went on to blame the United States for creating the current political dynamic in the region that had led to the tragedy.
"Our people know that this accident was the result of an error and mistake, but who was involved and what circumstances led to that accident? It is true that at this time the root of all grief goes back to America. It was America that inflamed the atmosphere and made the situation abnormal, threatened and took our loved ones from us; all this is true, but it does not mean that we should not address all the root causes of the incident," he said.
After the military's shock announcement on Saturday, hundreds of students gathered outside the Amirkabir University of Technology in Tehran to commemorate the victims. The gathering, which was not approved by the authorities, resulted in a rally where people started demanding the resignation and prosecution of those responsible. The police eventually dispersed the protesters.
