Justice eludes 298 killed in the shoot-down of MH17
On a sunny July afternoon in 2014, a Russian-made surface-to-air missile detonated just feet from a Malaysia Airlines flight at its cruising altitude. The explosion sent hundreds of pieces of high-energy shrapnel through the Boeing 777, which broke apart and crashed in farmland in eastern Ukraine. All 298 people aboard were killed. Three years later, the families of the passengers and crew still await a judicial reckoning, one which has been stymied by Russia’s efforts at the United Nations to block an international tribunal modeled after the one used in the 1988 terrorist bombing of a Pan Am flight over Scotland. This week, the five countries investigating the destruction of Flight MH17 said that a criminal trial, whenever it occurs, will be held in the Netherlands, home to almost 200 of the victims. “With this decision, we are taking a next step on the way to uncover the truth, the prosecution of suspects, and satisfaction for the bereaved,” Dutch PM Mark Rutte said. The Joint Investigation Team, which also includes Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, and Ukraine, is continuing to pursue those responsible for the act and to identify individual suspects. Officials didn’t say when a trial may start; the group has said it’s examining about 100 people of interest in the case. “We have to keep faith that [a trial] will happen, but it will not happen within six months and it will not happen in a year,” said Dennis Schouten, chairman of the MH17 Air Disaster Foundation. His brother-in-law, Donny Djodikromo, 37, and Djodikromo’s wife, Anelene Misran, 41, were on the Malaysia flight. “Of course, I would like it to be next week, but that’s not going to happen.” While choosing a venue for a future trial may seem incremental, the announcement, near the disaster’s third anniversary, shows a recognition that closure is needed and that the public needs to know a resolution is still being pursued. Whether it will ever be reached is uncertain. <br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2017-07-10/oneworld/justice-eludes-298-killed-in-the-shoot-down-of-mh17
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Justice eludes 298 killed in the shoot-down of MH17
On a sunny July afternoon in 2014, a Russian-made surface-to-air missile detonated just feet from a Malaysia Airlines flight at its cruising altitude. The explosion sent hundreds of pieces of high-energy shrapnel through the Boeing 777, which broke apart and crashed in farmland in eastern Ukraine. All 298 people aboard were killed. Three years later, the families of the passengers and crew still await a judicial reckoning, one which has been stymied by Russia’s efforts at the United Nations to block an international tribunal modeled after the one used in the 1988 terrorist bombing of a Pan Am flight over Scotland. This week, the five countries investigating the destruction of Flight MH17 said that a criminal trial, whenever it occurs, will be held in the Netherlands, home to almost 200 of the victims. “With this decision, we are taking a next step on the way to uncover the truth, the prosecution of suspects, and satisfaction for the bereaved,” Dutch PM Mark Rutte said. The Joint Investigation Team, which also includes Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, and Ukraine, is continuing to pursue those responsible for the act and to identify individual suspects. Officials didn’t say when a trial may start; the group has said it’s examining about 100 people of interest in the case. “We have to keep faith that [a trial] will happen, but it will not happen within six months and it will not happen in a year,” said Dennis Schouten, chairman of the MH17 Air Disaster Foundation. His brother-in-law, Donny Djodikromo, 37, and Djodikromo’s wife, Anelene Misran, 41, were on the Malaysia flight. “Of course, I would like it to be next week, but that’s not going to happen.” While choosing a venue for a future trial may seem incremental, the announcement, near the disaster’s third anniversary, shows a recognition that closure is needed and that the public needs to know a resolution is still being pursued. Whether it will ever be reached is uncertain. <br/>
