Dutch Prosecution Jumps To Conclusions About Buk Missile Involvement MH17 Crash - Lawyer

Dutch Prosecution Jumps to Conclusions About Buk Missile Involvement MH17 Crash - Lawyer

The Dutch prosecution, which is leading the international investigation into the 2014 downing of flight MH17 in Ukraine, has jumped to the conclusion that a Buk missile was involved in the crash, Dutch lawyer Boudewijn van Eijck, representing Russian national Oleg Pulatov, one of the defendants in the case, said on Monday during hearings that resumed earlier in the day

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd June, 2020) The Dutch prosecution, which is leading the international investigation into the 2014 downing of flight MH17 in Ukraine, has jumped to the conclusion that a Buk missile was involved in the crash, Dutch lawyer Boudewijn van Eijck, representing Russian national Oleg Pulatov, one of the defendants in the case, said on Monday during hearings that resumed earlier in the day.

During the hearings from June 8-10, Dutch prosecutor Thijs Berger told the trial that a metal shard found in a pilot's body appeared to be from a newer type of the Buk missile in a bid to link it to a Russian military unit.

"In the light of their [the prosecution's] introduction of the presentation, it certainly seems that they are extremely attached to Buk missile scenario ... and that scenario was adopted at a very early stage in the investigation ... Were they able to avoid the temptation in the course of their investigation to avoid jumping to conclusions? Well, only further investigation will shed light on that," van Eijck said, as broadcast by the Ruptly video service.

According to the lawyer, what is clear at this stage is that difficulties facing the investigation showed that most of the data referred to by the prosecution is based only on expert reports.

Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 crashed on July 17, 2014, in eastern Ukraine while en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, killing all 298 people aboard. The accident is being investigated by Dutch prosecutors and the Dutch-led Joint Investigation Team, which claim that the plane was hit by a Russian Buk missile. Moscow has repeatedly denied involvement in the incident.