March in Toronto on January 8, 2021, in tribute to the victims of flight PS752 Tehran-Kiev, a year after being shot down by “mistake” over Tehran (AFP / Archives / Cole BURSTON)
A Canadian court has awarded more than $ 100 million in financial compensation to the families of six people who died aboard a Ukrainian Boeing which was shot down “by mistake” over Tehran almost two years ago, the officials reported on Monday. local media.
Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) flight PS752 Tehran-Kiev crashed on January 8, 2020 with 176 people on board, mostly Iranians and Canadians, many of them binational.
Three days later, the Iranian armed forces admitted having shot down the aircraft “by mistake”.
Ontario Superior Court Judge Edward Belobaba awarded the plaintiffs more than 107 million Canadian dollars (74 million euros), according to several media, including the English-language channel CBC, relying on a press release from their lawyer Mark Arnold.
Contacted Monday evening by AFP, the latter did not immediately respond.
In May, the same judge concluded that Iran had committed a “terrorist” act by shooting down a Ukrainian Boeing on January 8, 2020 from Tehran, paving the way for a claim for compensation from the families of the victims.
In the process, Tehran denounced the judgment, declaring that the verdict had “no basis” and affirming that the Canadian court was not competent to render such a decision.
The plaintiffs claimed 1.5 billion dollars (1 billion euros) in damages.
In its final report released in March, the Iranian Civil Aviation Organization (CAO) laundered its armed forces. Ukraine denounced a “cynical attempt to hide the real causes” and Ottawa denounced a “incomplete” report without “hard evidence”.
A group of countries led by Canada said in June that they had filed an action against Iran to seek compensation for the families of the victims.
At the end of December 2020, Iran said it wanted to pay “$ 150,000 or the equivalent in euros” to each of the families of the victims of the theft. This announcement had been strongly criticized, in particular by Kiev and by the former head of Canadian diplomacy, François-Philippe Champagne.
“The issue of compensation will not be settled by unilateral declarations by Iran but should rather be the subject of negotiations between states,” he said on the eve of the first anniversary of the tragedy.
© 2022 AFP
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