Russian President Vladimir Putin has reportedly agreed to hand over to pro-Russian separatists the missile that shot down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in Ukraine in 2014. But there is no evidence to prosecute him, international investigators said Wednesday.
The Joint International Investigation Team (JIT) said there are “strong indications” that Putin approved sending the missile to pro-Russian separatists during fighting in eastern Ukraine in 2014.
But the investigation was suspended because “all the clues have run out” about those responsible for the demolition, which caused the death of the 298 people on board the bomb.
A Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 flying between Amsterdam and Kuala Lumpur was shot down on 17 July 2014 by a Soviet-made BUK missile while flying over the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine, already largely controlled by pro-Russian separatists.
The JIT’s announcement comes less than three months after a Dutch court sentenced two Russians and a Ukrainian for the deaths of people aboard the MH17 after being tried in absentia.
“There are strong indications that the Russian president has decided to hand over Buk TELAR to DPR separatists,” the JIT said in a statement, referring to the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic in eastern Ukraine.
Furthermore, he warned that, “after the separatists requested long-range anti-aircraft weapons, their request was discussed in the presidential administration in Moscow in the second half of June 2014”.
According to investigators, Russian officials even postponed the decision to send weapons to Ukrainian separatists because, in June 2014, Putin was in France for the commemoration of the Normandy landings.
revealing listening
During the press conference they gave in The Hague this Wednesday, released the intercepted phone call of an adviser who said the delay was due to the fact that “there is only one who decides (…), the one who is currently at a summit in France”.
But how Putin has immunity to be head of state, it is impossible to prosecute himthe researchers stated.
“As far as we talk about strong indications, the bar has not been reached [de tener] complete and conclusive evidence” about his role in the crash, they added.
The researchers had previously stated this the BUK missile system was transferred from a Russian military base in Kursk and that they were trying to find out who was in the crew and who was in the chain of command.
But “the investigation has reached its limit, all leads were exhausted, so the investigation has been suspended,” Dutch prosecutor Digna van Boetzelaer said at a news conference on Wednesday.
“The evidence is insufficient for further prosecutions,” he added.
phrases
In November, a Dutch court sentenced Russians Igor Guirkin and Sergei Dubinsky and Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko to life in prison for their roles in the downing of the plane in absentia.
Moscow denied any involvement, calling the verdict “shocking”.
The SIC is made up of members from the Netherlands, Australia, Belgium, Malaysia and the Ukraine, which were the countries most affected by the accident.
Trial judges in the Netherlands said, announcing the sentence in November, that the missile came from Russia and that the suspects were part of a Moscow-controlled separatist group.
But they only helped transfer the missile system to Ukraine and did not shoot it.
Source: AFP and EFE
Source: Clarin
Mary Ortiz is a seasoned journalist with a passion for world events. As a writer for News Rebeat, she brings a fresh perspective to the latest global happenings and provides in-depth coverage that offers a deeper understanding of the world around us.