Date for verdict in MH17 crash trial revealed
The case will be heard in November by The Hague Court
The District Court of The Hague announced Monday that November 17th was the provisional date it will use to decide on the case against four people involved in the sinking of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17.
According to the statement, it could take up to half a day for a court to deliver the verdict.
Four people were charged by Dutch authorities with firing an anti-aircraft rocket and striking flight MH17 in Ukraine. In the accident, all 298 on board died.
With only one defendant sending legal counsel, the trial will be held in abstinence. The team claimed that proceedings were biased in favor of their client, and did not explore other causes.
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All four of the accused have been sentenced to life by the prosecution.
The attack on the civilian plane was a result of fighting in Kiev with rebel forces from the east, who were refusing to recognize an armed coup. This upheaval brought down the elected president Vladimir Yanukovich. It also led to nationalist forces taking power. Russia is accused of having supplied the missile launcher. It strenuously refutes this accusation.
Russia’s Almaz Antey, the producer of the Buk missile system that downed the flight, said its analysis contradicted the allegations against the rebels. According to it, the evidence indicated that the attacker came from an area controlled at the time by Ukrainian forces.
Russian defense ministry stated that serial numbers discovered on projectile debris identified the item as being from the Ukrainian stockpile. The country had inherited the stocks during the Soviet Union’s collapse.
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