MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th July, 2020) Kiev is pleased with the Dutch's government's decision to take Russia to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) over its alleged role in the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 in 2014, Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Yevheniy Yenin said on Friday.
Earlier in the day, the Netherlands announced filing a case against Russia with the ECHR, citing Moscow's alleged role in the incident. The court has told Sputnik that it received the case and is now reviewing it. The Russian Foreign Ministry has responded by saying that the lawsuit will complicate the search for truth and that the Netherlands has branded Russia as solely responsible for the incident since the very beginning.
"We welcome the Kingdom of the Netherlands' decision regarding filing with the ECHR against the Russian Federation concerning the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17's plane," Yenin wrote on Facebook.
Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was shot down on July 17, 2014, in eastern Ukraine on its way to Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam. All 298 people aboard died.
The trial of four suspects � Russian nationals Igor Girkin, Sergey Dubinsky and Oleg Pulatov, and Ukrainian national Leonid Kharchenko � began in March in the Netherlands, but had to be adjourned over the COVID-19 pandemic. The hearings are still underway.
The Joint Investigative Team (JIT), which is looking into the case, believes that the Boeing was shot down from with a weapon belonging to a Russian military unit. JIT, headed by the Dutch prosecutors, does not include Russian representatives.
Russia has said that it gave the Netherlands radar data and documents proving that the missile that hit the plane belonged to Ukraine and was launched from the territory controlled by Kiev. However, this information was not taken into account. The Russian Foreign Ministry has called the JIT accusations against Russia one-sided and regrettable.
