Netherlands summons Russian envoy over MH17 probe criticism
Oct 03 2016
All 298 people on board Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 were killed when it was brought down in July 2014.
Wreckage of flight MH17 is seen after the presentation of the investigation report on the cause of its crash, at the Gilze-Rijen air base, the Netherlands, on October 13, 2015. But Moscow immediately denounced the findings of the Dutch-led inquiry as "biased and politically motivated".
Yet Russia says they have no evidence any Buk missiles crossed into Ukraine from Russia during the rebellion.
The Boeing 777 crashed in eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014 while flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. Ukraine immediately blamed the rebels, although they and the Kremlin have consistently denied any involvement.
The mandate for the investigation team has been extended to at least early 2018 as it seeks more information to help to pinpoint who made the decision to fire the missile.
Worldwide investigators said on Wednesday the passenger plane was downed by a Russian-made missile fired from a pro-Russian rebel village in eastern Ukraine.
Criminal investigators from the Netherlands, Australia, Belgium, Malaysia and Ukraine this week said they had "irrefutable evidence" that a BUK missile slammed into the plane and was sacked from a field in a part of eastern Ukraine then controlled by pro-Russian rebels. Gen. Igor Konashenkov argued Wednesday that the investigators' conclusions raise doubts, claiming they were based on information from the internet and Ukrainian special services.
But, it stressed, "there is no evidence that these calls are directly related to the shooting down of MH17".
Dutch police spokesman Thomas Aling said the investigation findings to be announced Wednesday differ in that they are created to be solid enough to be used as evidence in a criminal trial.
It raised "some very serious questions", he said.
Zakharova complained that the Russian government had been prevented from playing a full role in investigators' work and alleged that the Ukrainian government had been able to influence the inquiry using fabricated evidence.
"Who gave the orders?"
Mr Turnbull said Australia would continue to press Russian Federation to take action against those responsible. We want to know what happened, how it happened and why?
Bishop said the culprits could face an worldwide tribunal, similar to the one used to prosecute those responsible for the 1988 bombing of a PanAm flight over Lockerbie, Scotland. But he added it was not impossible. As the U.N. Security Council has concluded, those responsible should be held accountable, he said.
Russian officials were quick to reject the JIT's conclusions.
The Dutch Foreign Ministry summoned the Russian ambassador to the Netherlands on Friday to demand explanations on Russia's statements concerning the criminal investigation into the MH17 Boeing crash over Ukraine in July 2014. Investigators will hold a news conference later in the day to make their findings public. Shortly after the missile was sacked, the Buk system was reloaded onto a truck and taken back into Russian Federation.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko disagreed claiming there was now firm proof of who carried out this awful crime, and who is responsible.
"We can be sure it was a Buk installation that has brought down MH17", he said.
Despite worldwide investigators narrowing down a list of potential suspects to Russia, Ukraine and a pro-Moscow rebel group, all parties have denied involvement.
Defense Ministry spokesman Maj.
The SA-11 missile that struck the Malaysia Airlines plane was smuggled into Ukraine from Russian Federation in July 2014, the investigators said at a news conference, and then returned to Russian Federation.
The theory is that, if rocket was there then it could have been fired from elsewhere, since there is no rocket then data is clear. Majority were Dutch citizens.
The missile manufacturer Almaz-Antey also has an alternative a version to absolve Russian responsibility.
They have faced extraordinary challenges. The site where the jet's wreckage landed in Ukraine's Donetsk region was in an active war zone.
Eleven containers crammed with debris from the jetliner were ultimately brought to the Netherlands. Also 150,000 phone calls had been intercepted and listened to.
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