Lawyer: Families of MH17 victims want reparation for damages

A lawyer for relatives of victims killed when Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine in 2014 told trial judges Monday that the families want damages as a recognition of the injustice they suffered and told judges that Russian “disinformation” compounds their grief. Lawyer Arlette Schijns was speaking at the resumption of the Dutch trial in absentia of three Russians and a Ukrainian charged with offenses including mass murder for their alleged involvement in the downing of MH17. Schijns, who is representing 450 relatives, urged the court not to lose sight of the suffering of the hundreds of people who lost their loved ones as she addressed the judges on legal questions linked to families' right to claim damages. “This is about individuals who were confronted six years ago with a terrible loss that continues to have an influence on their lives today,” she said. Some families watched Schijns speak from a public gallery in the court on the edge of the airport from where the doomed flight took off. Lawyers said that 76 relatives have so far said they want to make a victim impact statement during the trial, and 316 have said they plan to apply for damages.<br/>