Australians, Dutch Launch Joint Case Against Russia over MH17 Shootdown

The Australian and Dutch governments instigated a joint legal case Monday against Russia in an effort to hold Moscow accountable for its alleged role in the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17.

The new efforts at the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to obtain justice for the 298 passengers of the flight – which included 38 residents of Australia and 196 Dutch citizens – aim to secure international recognition “that Russia is responsible for the MH17 disaster”, as well as push for four of the suspects to be jailed for life.

Russia previously pulled out of negotiations with both Australia and the Netherlands in October 2020, but now could be forced to return or face penalties imposed by the ICAO as well as sizeable potential reparations in their millions of dollars.

Of the three Russians, Igor Girkin, Sergey Dubinskiy, Oleg Pulatov, and the Ukrainian, Leonid Kharchenko, who are on trial, three have boycotted the legal battle and one insists he is innocent.

The four men were found by an international investigation innocent of “pushing the button” on the missile system themselves but were ruled to be responsible for bringing the missile launcher into Ukraine from the Russian base.

The Amsterdam-to-Kuala Lumpur passenger plane was shot down over territory controlled by Russian separatist forces on the 17th of July 2014 by a Buk missile system that was reportedly originally obtained from a Russian military base, and then returned after the shooting, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has insisted there is “overwhelming evidence” that Russia is responsible for the missile strike on the plane.

While Australia’s Foreign Minister, Marise Payne, has provided new hope for justice to the families of those killed saying that, “while we cannot take away the grief of those whose loved ones died as a result of Russia’s actions, the Australian government will pursue every available avenue to ensure Russia is held to account so that this horrific act never happens again”.

Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister, Wopke Hoekstra, also weighed in saying, “the deaths of 298 civilians, including 196 Dutch citizens, cannot remain without consequences. The current events in Ukraine underscore the crucial importance of that”.

Payne has suggested that they are restarting their legal efforts as, “Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine and the escalation of its aggression underscores the need to continue our enduring efforts to hold Russia to account for its blatant violation of international law and the U.N. Charter, including threats to Ukraine’s sovereignty and airspace”.

The minister has however stated Australia would “consider” ending the action if Moscow is “prepared to return to [the] negotiating table … but we have seen no sign of good faith from Russia on that for some time”.