⚡️ Statement of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in connection with the verdict of the District Court of The Hague in the framework of the criminal trial in the “MH17 case”
🔸 On November 17, the District Court of The Hague issued a verdict to two Russian citizens I. Girkin, S. Dubinsky and a citizen of Ukraine L. Kharchenko, declaring them guilty of involvement in the Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 crash in the sky over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014. The defendants were appointed punishment of life imprisonment. The fourth defendant, Russian citizen O. Pulatov, was declared not guilty.
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⚠️ Both the course and the results of the trial indicate that it was based on a political order to reinforce the version promoted by The Hague and its associates in the Joint Investigation Group about Russia’s involvement in the tragedy.
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Throughout the process, the court was under unprecedented pressure from Dutch politicians, representatives of the prosecutor’s office and the media, who imposed a politically motivated outcome of the proceedings. It is also obvious that the Netherlands, having simultaneously initiated disputes in the “MH17 case” against our country on other platforms, simply could not allow any other verdict at the national level, except for a guilty verdict, since in this case their arguments would crumble in international formats. There is no need to talk about objectivity and impartiality in such conditions.
When making its decision, the court preferred to ignore the fact that all the conclusions of the Dutch prosecutor’s office are based on the testimony of anonymous witnesses whose identities are classified, as well as on information of dubious origin and materials transmitted from the interested party – the SBU, which has been convicted more than once of giving false, conflicting information.
In addition, the argument of the defense side that there was no convincing evidence that flight MH17 was shot down by the Buk air defense system of Russian origin was not taken into account. <…> At the same time, documents declassified by the Russian Ministry of Defense were not taken into account, indicating the transfer to Ukraine of a missile, the serial number of which matches that found on the wreckage at the crash site.
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🛰 Satellite images of the United States that were taken on the day of the plane crash could bring some clarity. However, to the requests of the judges to disclose this data, or at least to allow them to get acquainted with them under special conditions, Washington responded with a categorical refusal.
What is so carefully concealed by some of the most ardent accusers of Russia in the plane crash has remained unclear. It is sincerely surprising that this question did not bother the judges at all.
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Surprisingly, in the time that has passed since the disaster, the question of Kyiv’s responsibility for not closing the airspace over the combat zone has not been properly analyzed. Although it is known for certain that in the zone of the so-called. During the anti-terrorist operation, air defense systems of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were deployed, including “Buks”, which were in combat condition, their radars were activated, and their crews practiced actions to search for and track targets.
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❗️ We deeply regret that the District Court of The Hague has neglected the principles of impartial justice for the sake of the current political situation, thereby causing a serious reputational blow to the entire judicial system of the Netherlands.
WtR