THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A world staff of investigators stated Wednesday it discovered “strong indications” that Russian President Vladimir Putin permitted the provision of heavy anti-aircraft weapons to Ukrainian separatists who shot down Malaysia Airways flight MH17 in 2014 with a Russian missile.
Nonetheless, members of the Joint Investigation Crew stated that they had inadequate proof to prosecute Putin or another suspects and so they suspended their 8½-year inquiry into the capturing down that killed all 298 individuals on board the Boeing 777 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.
Russia has at all times denied any involvement within the downing of the flight over japanese Ukraine on July 17, 2014, and refused to cooperate with the worldwide investigation.
Dutch prosecutors stated that “there are strong indications that the Russian president decided on supplying” a Buk missile system — the weapon that downed MH17 — to Ukrainian separatists.
“Although we speak of strong indications, the high bar of complete and conclusive evidence is not reached,” Dutch prosecutor Digna van Boetzelaer stated, including that with out Russian cooperation, “the investigation has now reached its limit. All leads have been exhausted.”
She additionally stated that, as head of state, Putin would have immunity from prosecution within the Netherlands. The staff performed a recording of an intercepted cellphone name during which they stated Putin could possibly be heard discussing the battle in japanese Ukraine.
“Are we disappointed? No, because we think we came further than we had ever thought in 2014. Would we have liked to come further? Of course, yes,” stated Andy Kraag of the Dutch police.
The staff knowledgeable kinfolk of these killed within the downing of MH17 of their findings earlier than making them public.
“There was disappointment because … they wanted to know why MH17 was shot down,” Kraag stated. “We’re really clear on what has happened, but the answer to the question why MH17 was shot down still remains in Russia.”
Van Boetzelaer stated that whereas the investigation is being suspended, cellphone traces will stay open for doable witnesses who should wish to present proof. If that occurs, the inquiry could possibly be reactivated.
Russian officers say {that a} determination to supply rebels with navy assist over the summer season of 2014 was in Putin’s arms.
A choice to produce arms was even postponed for every week “because there is only one who makes a decision (…), the person who is currently at a summit in France,” the investigative staff stated, citing a cellphone dialog that was referring to Putin.
Prosecutors stated that on the time Putin was at a commemoration of D-Day in France.
The announcement by the investigative staff comes almost three months after a Dutch courtroom convicted two Russians and a Ukrainian insurgent for his or her roles in capturing down the airplane. One Russian was acquitted by the courtroom.
Not one of the suspects appeared for the trial and it was unclear if the three who have been discovered responsible of a number of murders will ever serve their sentences.
The convictions and the courtroom’s discovering that the surface-to-air Buk missile got here from a Russian navy base have been seen as a transparent indication that Moscow had a job within the tragedy. Russia has at all times denied involvement. The Russian International Ministry accused the courtroom in November of bowing to stress from Dutch politicians, prosecutors and the information media.
However the November convictions held that Moscow was in total management in 2014 over the self-proclaimed Donetsk Folks’s Republic, the separatist space of japanese Ukraine the place the missile was launched. The Buk missile system got here from the Russian navy’s 53rd Anti-Plane Missile Brigade, primarily based within the metropolis of Kursk.
The Joint Investigation Crew is made up of consultants from the Netherlands, Australia, Malaysia, Belgium and Ukraine. Many of the victims have been Dutch. It had continued to research the crew of the missile system that introduced down the airplane and those that ordered its deployment in Ukraine.
In addition to the prison trial that was held within the Netherlands, the Dutch and Ukrainian governments are suing Russia on the European Court docket of Human Rights over its alleged function within the downing of MH17.
The findings revealed Wednesday will possible strengthen the case on the human rights courtroom and may be utilized by prosecutors on the Worldwide Prison Court docket who’re investigating doable battle crimes in Ukraine relationship again to the beginning of the separatist battle.
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