A Dutch court on Thursday (November 17th) convicted three men and acquitted another of the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine in 2014, killing all 298 passengers and crew.
The Russians Igor Girkin and Sergei Doubinsky and the Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko were “convicted” of murder and playing a role in the downing of a plane, Russian Oleg Poulatov has been acquitted, said presiding judge Hendrik Steenhuis. They were sentenced to life in prison, although it is unlikely that they will ever serve their sentence: they are in Russia and the Ukrainian territories annexed by Moscow, and extradition is very unlikely.
They were charged with the murder of the 298 passengers and crew killed when the plane from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was hit over eastern Ukraine held by pro-Russian separatists, by what prosecutors say is a missile supplied by Moscow. According to the prosecution, they were part of the Kremlin-backed separatist forces and played a key role in bringing the BUK missile system to Ukraine from a military base in Russia, even if they did not press the trigger.
Igor Girkin, 51, a former Russian spy who became the ” Defense Minister “ of the separatist Donetsk People’s Republic, was in contact with Moscow to obtain the missile system, according to the prosecution. He denied any involvement by separatists in the downing of MH17. Having recently become critical of the Russian military for its handling of the invasion of Ukraine, he reportedly volunteered to fight there.
Sergei Dubinsky, 60, also linked to Russian intelligence, was allegedly the separatists’ military intelligence chief, and gave orders regarding the missile. Their subordinates, Oleg Poulatov, a former Russian special forces soldier, and Leonid Kharchenko, 50, who allegedly led a separatist unit, played a more direct role in getting the missile to the launch site, according to the prosecution.
The trial represents the end of a long quest for justice for the relatives of the victims, who came from 10 countries, including 196 Dutch, 43 Malaysians and 38 Australians. The tragedy sparked global outrage and led to sanctions against Moscow.
The so-called MH17 trial has meanwhile become a test for efforts to bring perpetrators of war crimes in Ukraine to justice since 2014. Opened in March 2020 with a sad reading of the names of the victims, it was held at Netherlands because most of them were Dutch nationals.