Hopes for justice fade as 10th anniversary of MH17 is marked
Relatives and dignitaries mourn victims of July 17, 2014 plane crash
Relatives wearing black gathered near Amsterdam yesterday to mourn victims on the 10th anniversary of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, as hopes fade that those responsible for shooting down the plane will wind up behind bars.
Russia has refused to extradite three men convicted by a Dutch court over their role in the plane’s downing, and last year international investigators suspended their work, saying there was not enough evidence to prosecute more suspects.
“I don’t think those responsible will serve their sentences,” said Evert van Zijtveld, who lost his daughter Frederique, 19, and his son Robert-Jan, 18, as well as his parents-in-law.
Yesterday, hundreds of relatives as well as government representatives and dignitaries − many dressed in black − attended an event at a memorial park near Schiphol airport where the doomed flight took off on a bright summer’s day on July 17, 2014. Hours later, the Boeing 777 jet was shot down by a Russian-made BUK surface-toair missile over eastern Ukraine, as it passed on a flight line towards Kuala Lumpur. All 298 people on board were killed.
The memorial was broadcast live on national television from 1.30pm, while many of the
Netherlands’ main cities flew the Dutch flag at half-mast on the day.
Several speakers made statements and the names of all the victims were read.
The victims came from at least 10 countries, with 196 of them Dutch, 43 Malaysian and 38 Australian.
Memorials were also held elsewhere, including a service in the Australian parliament in Canberra, where family members placed flowers on a wreath, many pausing for a moment to wipe away tears.
Australia will “not be deterred in our commitment to
hold Russia to account,” Foreign Minister Penny Wong told relatives and dignitaries.
A Dutch court in November 2022 sentenced in absentia three men to life imprisonment for their roles in bringing down the plane over separatist-held pro-Russian territory, during the early stages of a war that saw Moscow seize the Crimean peninsula.
Russians Igor Girkin and Sergei Dubinsky and Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko could all be held responsible for the transport of the BUK missile from a military base in Russia and deploying it to the launch site, the
judges said − even if they did not launch the missile themselves. None of the suspects took part in the legal proceedings or acknowledged their roles in the incident.
A fourth man, Oleg Pulatov, was acquitted.
Though international investigators have suspended their work, they concluded there were “strong indications” that Russian President Vladimir Putin approved the supply of the missile that downed the plane.
The EU on Tuesday called upon Moscow to “accept its responsibility in this tragedy and cooperate fully in serving justice.”
The evidence presented during the MH17 trial “makes it abundantly clear that the BUK surface-to-air missile system used to bring down flight MH17 belonged beyond doubt to the armed forces of the Russian Federation,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said.
Moscow has refused to extradite any of the suspects, saying it is illegal under Russian law.
In a statement, the Russian Embassy in The Hague again denied Moscow’s involvement, pointing the finger instead at Kyiv. Moscow also accused the Netherlands, Australia and other countries of being “guided by political considerations... seeking by any means to impose on the world community their pre-selected version of the Boeing plane crash according to which the blame would be placed on Russia”.
Ukraine’s security service (SBU) blamed Russia for a “terrible crime”.
“Years have passed, and Russia continues to follow its bloody path, openly lying to the whole world and destroying the lives of millions,” the SBU said on Telegram.
“The invasion of Ukraine and the escalation of the war has made that really difficult to believe that any of them [the accused] will be arrested soon,” van Zijtveld said ahead of the memorial, referring to the war against Ukraine launched by Russia in February 2022. (AFP)