On March 9, the trial against four persons charged with murder in the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (designated as MH17) began at the Hague. Dutch prosecutors say the three Russians and one Ukrainian on trial (in absentia) had arranged for the Russian missile system that was used to shoot down MH17 on July 17, 2014, over Ukraine’s Donbas region. The names of all 298 people killed that day were read out by a prosecutor, and the presiding judge, Hendrik Steenhuis, said in his opening remarks, “Many people have long waited for this day.”
Russia, as expected, continues to deny any involvement in the murders of the civilian aircraft’s passengers and crew. In fact, it has pushed all manner of propaganda about alternate accounts of what happened on that fateful day. The Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group notes: “Over the first two days after the disaster, Russian Internet trolls posted a record-breaking 65,000 tweets trying to blame Ukraine for the disaster.” The KHPG also reminds us that “Russia used its power of veto in the U.N. Security Council on July 29, 2014, to block an international tribunal into the downing of MH17.” Subsequently, the Joint Investigative Team was formed by the Dutch with officials from Australia, Belgium, Malaysia and Ukraine. The fact-checking site Stopfake.org on March 10 posted an analysis of the Kremlin’s tactics to discredit the JIT and to sabotage any investigation (see https://www.stopfake.org/en/occupy-the-information-space/).
On the second day of the proceedings in the Netherlands, Reuters reported: “The sum of all the facts casts a dark shadow over this investigation because there is strong indicative evidence that Russian government is keen to thwart the investigation,” Prosecutor Thijs Berger told the hearing. He also focused on testimony by witnesses who have not yet been named. “Several witnesses in this investigation have said that they fear for their lives if their identities would come to light,” he explained.
Reuters also reported that one witness, a Russian national who volunteered to join the militants in the Donbas, had already been given protection. Dubbed M58, he told prosecutors that Russian military personnel and “separatists” at the scene were “initially pleased,” thinking they had downed a military transport plane. “However, when the first people returned from the crash site, they said it was a civilian aircraft,” Prosecutor Dedy Woei-a-Tsoi said. There are other such witnesses and plenty of evidence showing a direct link between Russia and the so-called rebels in the occupied Donbas that will be presented during the course of what is expected to be a trial of several months’ duration.
According to RFE/RL, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tweeted on the day before the trial began that “justice will prevail and that those responsible will be held accountable for the deaths of 298 innocent people.” Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on March 6 that the trial is “a very important step toward uncovering the truth and seeking justice for the victims and their survivors.” Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on March 7 that his government “remains steadfast in its commitment to pursuing justice and accountability for MH17.” A statement from the Malaysian Foreign Affairs Ministry said the trial would be “a significant milestone” toward “finding justice” for those killed.
Clearly, there is much expectation in their words that the Dutch court will fulfill its very important responsibilities in ensuring that justice is served. And there is also the impassioned hope that the relatives of the deceased – who set up 298 empty chairs in front of Russia’s Embassy to the Netherlands as both a moving memorial to their families and as a pointed protest against Russia’s refusal to cooperate in the investigation – will find some measure of closure.