MH17 sentences could be served in Ukraine Thursday, June 14, 2018 11:00:00 AM

On June 12, the Dutch Parliament ratified an agreement with Ukraine concerning the prosecution of those responsible for the crash of the Malaysian Boeing flying route MH17 over the Donbas in 2014. The sentences can be served in Ukraine, and the court can use video conferencing, reported Deutsche Welle.

The approved agreement reinforces the position that the court proceedings will take place in a Dutch court, more specifically in the Hague. If sentences are passed, they can be implemented in Ukraine, if those condemned are not extradited to the Netherlands.

“The approval of the agreement is an important step on the road to finding the truth and prosecuting the suspects, thereby meeting the demands of the victims’ relatives,” said Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok.

A Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 flying the MH17 route from Amsterdam (Netherlands) to Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) was shot down over Ukraine’s Donetsk province on July 17, 2014. All 298 people on board were killed.

On May 24, 2018, Wilbert Paulissen, head of the Dutch police’s criminal investigation department, speaking on behalf of the Joint Investigative Team (JIT) which is investing the MH17 crash, reported that the investigation had established that the plane was shot down by a Buk missile launcher, and that the missile system was brought from Russia into the area of the Donbas not controlled by the Ukrainian government. On May 25, the governments of the Netherlands and of Australia announced that they hold Russia responsible for shooting down the plane.

On June 6, the Dutch government clarified that it does not consider the Ukrainian authorities responsible for the catastrophe.

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