On November 17, the District Court of The Hague handed down the first verdicts in the case of the downing of the Malaysian Airlines plane MH17.
Three Russia-backed DPR militants were sentenced to life imprisonment. However, this is only the first step towards establishing the truth about the MH17 flight and punishing the rest of the perpetrators.
First of all, Russia’s involvement was recognized. Since May 2014, Moscow has controlled the militants, financed them, and supplied weapons to Donbas. Also, militant leaders were appointed from the Kremlin.
The verdict shattered Russia’s lies
The court established Russia’s participation as a legal fact. This decision refuted the lies spread by the Kremlin propaganda for 8 years, as Russia denied its involvement in the war in Donbas and lied to the world about the “civil war” in Ukraine. ️
The judge said that the Boeing was shot down by a Buk missile system belonging to the 53rd anti-aircraft missile brigade of the Russian army. The missile was brought from Russia, and after the crash was taken back.
Russia falsified evidence
The investigation proved that the Russian side deliberately forged evidence to mislead the investigation. Russia did not assist the investigation in any way and ignored requests for international legal assistance.
The court recognized the objectivity of the investigation and its quality work. The verdict was based on evidence collected by the international Joint Investigation Team. Ukrainian law enforcement officers joined its work.
More sentences are expected in the MH17 case
Advisor to the Ukrainian President’s office Mykhailo Podoliak noted that the verdict is an important legal precedent for further proceedings against all Russian war criminals. In particular, over Russian President Putin. Podoliak stressed that evil must be punished with concrete sentences.
In addition, it puts the world before the fact that Russia is a terrorist state, and not only Ukrainians can become its victims.
Several European states and PACE officially recognised Russia as a terrorist state.
