Dutch Prosecutors Demanded Life Sentences for Suspects Shooting Down Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17
INTERNATIONAL: Dutch prosecutors on Wednesday have demanded life sentences for three Russians and a Ukrainian charged with shooting down a passenger jet over Ukraine in 2014, killing 298 people.
They said the defendants, who are all at large, helped supply a missile system that pro-Russian separatists used to fire a rocket at Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.
The attack has killed everyone on board, most of whom were Dutch nationals. The Dutch government holds Russia responsible. Authorities in Moscow deny involvement.
After years of collecting evidence, an international team of investigators concluded in May 2018 that the launcher used to shoot down the aircraft, which was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, belonged to Russia's 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade.
Prosecutors have said on Wednesday that the evidence shows the men were linked to Russian-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine and played different but significant roles in the events that led to the downing of the jet.
Russians Pulatov, Dubinsky and Girkin and Ukrainian Kharchenko have all denied involvement either in video messages or in media interviews shown in court. Closing arguments from Pulatov's lawyers are expected in March and a verdict by the end of 2022.
