Russia Slams MH17 Court Ruling as Politically Motivated

Russia said Thursday, Nov. 17, that a Dutch court ruling over the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine in 2014 was politically motivated, adding the court was under “unprecedented pressure”.

“The course and the results of the proceedings indicate that they were based on a political order to reinforce the version promoted by The Hague and its associates,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

“We deeply regret that the District Court of The Hague has neglected the principles of impartial justice for the sake of the current political situation, thus inflicting a serious blow to the reputation of the entire judicial system of the Netherlands,” Moscow said.

The foreign ministry also said the court was under “unprecedented pressure” from Dutch politicians, prosecutors and media.

Moscow said the trial in the Netherlands could go down in history as “one of the most scandalous in the history of legal proceedings with its extensive list of oddities, inconsistencies and dubious arguments of the prosecution.”

Earlier Thursday a Dutch court convicted three men and acquitted one over the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 above Ukraine in 2014.

Russians Igor Girkin and Sergei Dubinsky and Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko were “found guilty” of murder and intentionally causing an aircraft to crash, while Russian Oleg Pulatov was not guilty, head judge Hendrik Steenhuis said.

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The first three were sentenced to life imprisonment in absentia.

Moscow has denied all involvement in the crash. It has refused to extradite any of the suspects, saying it is illegal under Russian law.