Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 Crashes in Ukraine

Today, the MH17 trial has resumed its sessions. There are no reports yet about today's substance, only a score of almost identical reports announcing the resumption.

Source (in Dutch): Niet eerder dan 17 november uitspraak in MH17-proces

No verdict in MH17 trial until 17 November
ANP - 7 hours ago

SCHIPHOL (ANP) - The court will give its verdict in the extensive MH17 trial on November 17 at the earliest, but it could also be December 15. The president announced this on Monday at the secured court at Schiphol Airport. The court had previously reserved three dates for the verdict. The first reserved possibility, September 22, will certainly not be possible, said the president.

After more than two years, the monster trial is currently in the concluding stages. Life imprisonment has been demanded of the four suspects. Only one suspect, Russian Oleg Pulatov, is represented by lawyers. They have pleaded for acquittal.

The prosecution has the chance to respond this week. Three days have been set aside for this. On Monday, the prosecutor announced that the extensive plea by Pulatov's lawyers had not led to different insights. The prosecution remains convinced of the Russian's involvement in the disaster.

Buk missile

Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was downed on July 17, 2014 in eastern Ukraine, where an armed struggle was also going on at the time. The plane was en route from Schiphol Airport to the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur. All 298 occupants died in the disaster. Many of them were Dutch.

According to the OM, pro-Russian separatists brought down the plane with a Buk missile. In addition to Pulatov, rebel leader Igor Girkin, his right-hand man Sergei Dubinsky and garrison commander Leonid Khartshenko are on trial. According to the prosecution, the men played a role in bringing in or taking away the Buk missile system. "The all-destructive violence did not come on a whim. It was planned and organized by the defendants," the prosecutor said at the time. "That they did not push the button themselves is legally irrelevant." The men themselves deny any involvement.

It is not known why the plane was brought down. The most likely scenario, according to the prosecution, is that the pro-Russian separatists did not realize it was a passenger flight.

Next month the second reply is scheduled, a final reaction from the defense. Then the verdict will follow.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

Similar or identical coverage in Dutch:
Niet eerder dan 17 november uitspraak in MH17-proces
Niet eerder dan 17 november uitspraak in MH17-proces - Nieuws.nl
Niet eerder dan 17 november uitspraak in MH17-proces - wel.nl
MH17-proces in afrondende fase, OM reageert op pleidooi Poelatov
Niet eerder dan 17 november uitspraak in MH17-proces

Shorter English version:
MH17 ruling in November at earliest

Other news (in Dutch): Wijziging in team officieren van justitie MH17-proces

Change in team of prosecutors MH17 trial

News Release | 28-04-2022 | 10:30

There will be a change in the team of public prosecutors handling the MH17-process. Prosecutor T. (Thijs) Berger will start as a criminal investigation officer at the District Court of The Hague on June 1, 2022. He will also continue to work part-time for the MH17 investigation of the National Prosecutor's Office.

Berger was involved from the beginning in July 2014 in the criminal investigation into the crash of the plane in eastern Ukraine, in which 298 occupants died. After conducting other investigations in between, he returned to the MH17 team in 2018 to lead the trial of four suspects in the downing.

The trial, which began in March 2020, is now well advanced. On May 16, 2022, the prosecution will have its last preliminary hearing in the so-called reply. The verdict in the MH17 case is expected next fall.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
 
Just one report today: OM schuift alternatieve scenario's MH17-verdediging terzijde

Prosecutor brushes aside alternative scenarios of MH17 defense
ANP - 3 hours ago

SCHIPHOL (ANP) - The alternative scenarios put forward by the lawyers of MH17 suspect Oleg Pulatov are not correct, according to the prosecution. For example, in the Judicial Complex at Schiphol Airport on Tuesday, prosecutors pointed to a report cited by the defense about the firing location of the Buk missile that shot the passenger plane out of the sky. "There is no expert investigation here," he said.

Pulatov's lawyers previously disputed that MH17 was downed from the location cited by the prosecution, namely an agricultural field near the Ukrainian town of Pervomaiskyi. In support of this argument, the defense used a study by the Russian defense group Almaz-Antey, the manufacturer of Buk missiles. Central to the plea were the areas on the plane where the missile fragments drilled into.

However, according to the prosecution, Almaz-Antey's research is far from being expert and independent. For example, the Justice Department says that, when asked, the investigators did not provide insight into the research data and methods used. Moreover, in a media interview, a representative of the company allegedly said that the Netherlands committed fraud in the MH17 investigation and that there was an information war. "This gives little confidence in impartial investigation," said the Prosecutor.

Tapped conversations


The prosecutors also returned to Pulatov's explanation about the tap conversations of pro-Russian separatists, on which it could be heard that there was talk of a Buk missile. According to the defendant, this was a ploy to put the Ukrainian military on the wrong track. However, the information from those tap conversations has been verified against other sources, the prosecution says. " These are conversations about the raw reality of combat."

MH17 crashed on July 17, 2014, in eastern Ukraine, where an armed struggle was also underway at the time. All 298 occupants were killed in the crash. Among them were many Dutch. The four suspects - in addition to Pulatov, they are Igor Girkin, Sergei Dubinsky and Leonid Khartshenko - have been demanded to serve life sentences. According to the prosecution, they had a role in bringing in or taking away the Buk rocket installation.

The defense pleads for acquittal, a requirement to which the prosecution now responds for three days. Next month the defense may then comment again on the prosecution. After that the verdict will follow.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
 
Again, just one report on today's session: Advocaten MH17-verdachte: OM haalt onze woorden uit context

Lawyers MH17 suspect: Prosecutor is pulling our words out of context
ANP - 4 hours ago

SCHIPHOL (ANP) - According to the lawyers of MH17 suspect Oleg Pulatov, their words have been misquoted several times by the prosecution. As a result, they have been "taken out of their context" so that "a totally different picture has been painted". That is what the lawyers said after the sessions this week in the secure court at Schiphol Airport, where the monumental trial on the downing of flight MH17 is taking place.

Wednesday, after 2.5 days, the reply was completed. In it, the prosecution responded to the plea of Pulatov, the only one of the four defendants to be represented by lawyers. Life imprisonment was demanded against all four men, three Russians and one Ukrainian.

According to lawyers Sabine ten Doesschate and Boudewijn van Eijck, at various times the Public Prosecutor misrepresented parts of their pleading, in which they argue that Pulatov should be acquitted. Ten Doesschate cites as an example a quote from their client in which he states that it would be "absurd" that he needed a Buk missile system. "That absurdity refers to the question of whether that need for a Buk missile existed. Not to the theory that it had been used as the prosecution argues."

Pro-Russian separatists

According to the prosecution, pro-Russian separatists downed the Malaysia Airlines plane over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014 with a Buk missile. The plane was en route from Schiphol Airport to the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur. All 298 occupants were killed in the disaster. Among them were many Dutch citizens.

In addition to Pulatov, rebel leader Igor Girkin, his right-hand man Sergei Dubinsky and garrison commander Leonid Khartshenko are on trial. According to the prosecution, the men played a role in bringing in or taking away the Buk missile installation. "The all-destructive violence did not come on a whim. It was planned and organized by the defendants," the prosecutor said at the time. "That they did not push the button themselves is legally irrelevant."

Reason unknown

It is not known why the plane was brought down. The most likely scenario, according to the prosecutor, is that the pro-Russian separatists did not realize it was a passenger flight.

The extensive trial will continue from June 8, when Pulatov's lawyers will have one more opportunity to respond. For now, three days of sessions have been set aside for this purpose. A verdict is not expected until November 17.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

According to this article (in Dutch), the complete dossier (in Dutch ??) of the MH17 case as the Public Prosecutor presented it has been made available on-line now that the presentation is completed.

However, the link given didn't work properly neither in Firefox, nor in Google Chrome and Edge Chromium; supposedly due to certification issues. This is that link: Strafdossier MH17 Maybe others might be more successful using it.
 
This week, there were three sessions planned to give the defense lawyers their final opportunity to react to the prosecution's reply to their initial defense plea. However, yesterday's session was cancelled at the request of the defense because they were not completely ready with their preparations. Today's session went ahead as planned but there are no substantive reports on it as of yet. We only have an announcement in Dutch of the resumption as such:

https://www.msn.com/nl-nl/nieuws/Binnenland/mh17-proces-nadert-slotstuk-verdediging-poelatov-reageert-op-om/
 
Source (in Dutch): 'Ik heb niets te maken met ramp op 17 juli 2014', zei MH17-verdachte in laatste woord

NOS News - Domestic - today, 14:43
'I have nothing to do with disaster on July 17, 2014', MH17 suspect said in last word

On the final day of court hearings in the MH17 trial, suspect Oleg Pulatov, strongly criticized the Public Prosecutor's Office, which he said has done everything in its power to falsely accuse him of downing the plane.

"The prosecutor's goal is not to find out the truth, but to achieve a conviction regardless," he said in a video message shown at the Justice Complex near Schiphol Airport. As a defendant, the 55-year-old Pulatov had the last word in the trial today, before the court rules at the end of the year.

"I have nothing at all to do with the disaster on July 17, 2014," Pulatov said. According to the former rebel commander, the prosecution selectively used contradictory witness statements and withheld important information. Statements by experts he called "unprofessional and inaccurate."

'Heavy burden'

According to Pulatov, despite seven years of criminal investigation, it has not become clear what exactly happened. Yet the prosecution has "baseless proclaimed to the whole world that I am guilty of the murder of 298 people." Pulatov called this a "heavy burden," causing both himself and his family to suffer "enormous immaterial damage."

Pulatov called on the court to acquit him and clear his name. "For me, it is important that my country is not held guilty of this tragedy," the Russian defendant said. He began his video message by expressing his condolences to the bereaved families.

Murder


In addition to Pulatov, two other Russians and a Ukrainian are also standing trial in the MH17 trial. They all held leadership positions in rebel groups that fought against the Ukrainian army in 2014.

According to the prosecution, the men were responsible for secretly arranging, using and removing a BUK missile installation from the Russian army. The investigation shows that the Malaysia Airlines plane was shot down with it. The prosecution is charging the murder of all 298 occupants of the passenger aircraft.

In December, the prosecution demanded life sentences against the suspects, of whom only Pulatov is represented by lawyers. They too want an acquittal. The defense finds the investigation too one-sided, says it is not certain that MH17 was hit with a Russian BUK missile and argues that Pulatov had no involvement whatsoever.

Today the lawyers brought up again that the downing of MH17 was probably accidental. In addition to the fact that it is not known who pressed the firing button, they say the exact principals also remain unclear. "There was no plan to bring down a plane on July 17, 2014," they said.

Yesterday, Pulatov's lawyers were also critical of an interactive website of the prosecutor's office, where the prosecutor's reading of the case is explained with many details from the file. Thereby their client's right to a fair trial was violated, the lawyers said. The court also said it was surprised by the publication.

Never apprehended


It was never possible to apprehend the four suspects in the MH17 case. They reside in Russia, which denies any involvement in the disaster and does not extradite nationals. Therefore, the trial is being conducted without them.

The MH17 trial began over two years ago. In September, nearly 100 relatives spoke in court about the loss of their loved ones and the suffering caused by the downing of MH17. The court today called that once more an impressive part of the case.

After the summer, the court hopes to announce the verdict date. In addition to deputy commander Pulatov, rebel leader Igor Girkin, his deputy Sergei Dubinsky and battalion commander Leonid Khartshenko are also on trial.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

Other coverage:
MH17 trial at an end: Defense accuses prosecutor of tunnel vision; Family ready for closure

MH17-verdachte Poelatov op laatste zittingsdag: 'Spreek mij vrij, ik ben onschuldig'
 
Source (in Dutch): Gepersonaliseerde granaten voor Oekraïne te koop: 'Wraak voor MH17'

Online Trading
Personalized grenades for Ukraine for sale: 'Revenge for MH17'


Frances Brisam - 1 hour 20 minutes ago; Updated: 3 seconds ago

Schermafbeelding%202022-06-22%20om%2014.54.41.png

The photo with the MH17 message that circulated on social media - Image RTL-Nieuws

A Ukrainian tank with your name on it or a bomb with a "special message" for the Russians. It's one of the creative ways Ukrainians are trying to raise money to support their soldiers. Most of the projectiles have a message in English, but recently a picture of a rocket with a Dutch message also circulated on social media: 'Revenge for MH17'.

For an amount of money ranging from 10 to 300 euros you can already have a text put on a bomb. Via the online forum Reddit the phenomenon got the most notoriety. The principle is simple: you pay via Paypal or, for example, with Bitcoin, send in your text and someone in Ukraine will make sure that your text ends up on a tank or missile. You receive a picture as proof.

On social media you can find several Ukrainians who offer this remarkable "service". For example, the Telegram channel Combat Footage is actively advertising it: "Soldiers will write your text on the entire side of 203 mm artillery shell with indelible marker, and then fire it at the Russians."

The channel also makes a number of text suggestions: "Wish someone a good birthday, ask your girlfriend to marry you, or send greetings to Putin's mother. Another account called Leninfall even had to stop its action "due to great success and shortage of material to write on."

Among all those photos of described projectiles, a photo suddenly popped up last month with a Dutch text on it: 'Revenge for MH17,' it was scrawled on the gray shell.

MH17 refers to the Malaysia Airlines flight that was shot down by pro-Russian separatists from airspace over the Donbass in 2014. It killed 298 people, including 193 Dutch nationals.

The image was not only found on regular accounts, but also on several pro-Russian social media channels. According to the accounts, it was ammunition sent to Ukraine by the Netherlands, with the MH17 message on it. Dutch websites spreading fake news also adopted this claim.

Pro-Russian propaganda

Journalist Lotte Lambrecht of the Belgian political weekly Knack also came across the photo and decided to investigate (in Dutch; registration needed to access). "The photo was very often linked to the Dutch arms deliveries to Ukraine," Lambrecht tells RTL Nieuws.

"The first thing was to investigate whether the photo was genuine," says the journalist. And it is. Somewhere in Ukraine there really was a projectile with "Revenge for MH17" on it. "An image analysis quickly showed that the photo had not been manipulated."

There is also no Dutch-origin ammunition in the photo, Lambrecht says. "A weapons expert told us that the photo shows OF45 152mm projectiles. That is not NATO but Soviet ammunition. The Ukrainian army has thousands of these kinds of Soviet projectiles."

More projectiles with message

Exactly which social media account the photo with the MH17 message on a projectile came from , Lambrecht could not find out. However, similar photos can be found online with personalized projectiles, which seem to be at the same spot in the grass as the one with the Dutch message.

For example, a rocket with 'For Katyn 1940' written on it in Polish, referring to an execution of Polish soldiers by Soviet soldiers in 1940.

The projectile with the Polish message has been shared on a Reddit forum, among others. One of the forum members there is the Ukrainian seller of these personalized missiles. That someone, possibly from the Netherlands, paid to get the message "Revenge for MH17" on a missile in Ukraine is therefore plausible, according to Lambrecht.

Incidentally, labeling ammunition is not new, Knack wrote. Throughout the history of warfare *, texts addressed to the enemy have been written on projectiles.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

* For one example see: The Sarcastic Jokes You'll Find on Roman Bullets
 
Archiving a link to a new article by John Helmer (6 July, 2022) on SOTT in which relatively little is said about the MH17 case and trial -and certainly nothing new- but complemented instead with a wide array of other subjects ranging from the Dutch-British colonial rivalry in the early seventeenth century up to and including the recent Dutch farmers protests.

The coming verdict in the MH17 trial is certain, and double Dutch -- Sott.net
 
This is nuts and like a giant billboard falling if will be confirmed. :shock: I am listening to Russian 24 news, and right now they announced breaking news, that Malaysia Airlines plane crushed on it's way toward Russian territory. But it fell before crossing the border on the Ukrainian territory. There were over 200 people there. But the reporter said, that the news are still unconfirmed. And there is nothing on the net yet.
So began the first post in this thread. Today is July 17, 2022 and, we have an eight-year anniversary, though not a happy one. The way the West went about it made, and still makes, matters worse. Even if the incident was sabotage and aided by a third side, it was also a billboard, but the West missed both the sabotage and the billboard, except to obfuscate the case, spread lies, stir public opinion against Russia, argue for sanctions, and continuously pressing their animosity, ignoring Minsk I and II a year or two later, until we today have the hot conflict in Ukraine, where tens of thousands of people have died.

The silver lining of the grey cloud might have been that a few more realized there are reasons to pay attention to what happens in the World, and especially how it happens and why.
 
Thanks @thorbiorn for your reminder. :cool2:

Other coverage: Anniversary of MH17 crash honored with ceremonies in Vijfhuizen, Hilversum
Sunday, 17 July 2022 - 11:34

Anniversary of MH17 crash honored with ceremonies in Vijfhuizen, Hilversum


The victims killed when Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crashed will be commemorated on Sunday afternoon in Vijfhuizen and Hilversum. The Boeing passenger jet was shot down over eastern Ukraine eight years ago after it departed from Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam. All 298 people on board were killed, including 196 Dutch citizens.

The plane was shot down during the period immediately following Russia’s invasion of Crimea and parts of eastern Ukraine. Evidence uncovered during multiple international investigations showed that a Russian buk missile unit was responsible for downing the aircraft.

The annual commemoration will be the first time since 2019 that relatives of the victims can reunite at the National Monument in Vijfhuizen. Ceremonies held in 2020 and 2021 were either moved online or otherwise adjusted due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The next of kin will read the names of all the victims who died that day. Piet Ploeg, the chair of the foundation Vliegramp MH17, will give a speech.

In Hilversum, a commemoration will be held for the fifteen inhabitants of the Noord-Holland city who lost their lives as a result of the disaster. Mayor Gerhard van den Top and Pastor Jules Dresmé from the Catholic Church will each give a short speech.

The former mayor, Pieter Broertjes, will read off the names of the Hilversum victims. Sunflowers will be placed at the Hilversum MH17 monument in the presence of a number of relatives.

A criminal trial into the downing of the flight has been ongoing in the Netherlands for over two years. Public prosecutors pressed a case against four suspects, Igor Girkin, Sergey Dubinskiy, Oleg Pulatov, and Leonid Kharchenko. Three of the four are Russian military, except for Kharchenko, who was a Ukrainian battalion leader at the time that supported the Russian-backed separatist movement. He was allegedly reporting to Pulatov.

Only Pulatov presented a defense during the trial. Prosecutors recommended that each suspect be convicted and sentenced to life behind bars.

A verdict in the case could be presented on 17 November at the earliest.

Reporting by ANP and NL Times

Coverage in Dutch:
MH17-nabestaanden herdenken 'slachtoffers van wrede oorlog die acht jaar geleden begon'
Herdenking slachtoffers vliegramp MH17 in Vijfhuizen en Hilversum
Acht jaar na MH17-ramp: vanmiddag herdenking van 298 slachtoffers

Photographs:

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ANP-434034867.jpg
 
Is this one more take on what happened on July 17.
"No One Is Forgotten" has names and documents to support his claim. The video is in Russian and translated into English. Somewhere on the video, he says it was a Boeing 737, but he accepted a correction in the comment to 777.
The secret visit of American attaches to the East of Ukraine on 17 July 2014. PART 1
1.327 visninger 16. jul. 2022

In this video, You will learn about amazing coincidences that occurred on July 17, 2014 in the South-East of Ukraine.

On this day, American intelligence officers arrived at the Dnepropetrovsk airport. Their purpose of the visit was extremely unclear. Besides there was almost no coverage of this event in local media. And on the same day, July 17, 2014, at 16.20, the МH-17 disaster happened in Donbass.

These events are united by one remarkable detail - at the time of the crash, the flight was controlled by the air traffic center of Dnepropetrovsk airport.

Who exactly arrived at Dnepropetrovsk airport? What was the purpose of their visit? You will find answers to these questions in new video.
Edit: I found a part 2:

The secret visit of American attaches to the East of Ukraine on 17 July 2014. PART 2
16. jul. 2022

What were the Americans doing on the day of the downing of the Вoеing in Dnepropetrovsk? Secret visit of high-ranking officers.

Since 2014, this event cannot be considered as something beyond the ordinary. Western curators have "settled" in Ukraine and coordinated all actions of the Ukrainian leadership. However, the arrival of the delegation on July 17, or rather on the day when the Malaysian Вoеing MH17 was shot down, is still alarming.

Moreover, one of them is a highly qualified specialist in the organization of international flights, including in the European-Asian region, the other is a specialist in intelligence and special operations. Both speak excellent Russian.

Maybe it is for this that one of them was recognized as a field officer of the year in the USA?

And why did he work in Ukraine until July 2014? Strange coincidences. There are other interesting facts about which the West is silent. [...]
 
Just for the record. :-[

I have to correct myself here in so far as I was stating the verdict will be announced on September 17 while the correct date will be November 17 - as is also clearly shown in most web article titles. I got distracted because of the mention of September 22 in some of the articles as a previously possible date that now has been discarded as too soon or too early for comfort on the judges.
 

It seems it was a fake news.
Girkin denied his arrest and keeps posting (if that's him) on his Telegram and VK profiles and bashing Russia and her military as usual.

On the 14th, the next day after his alleged arrest he posted that:

(transl)
1. To comment on Igor Bezler is having no respect to oneself.
2. I have not been to the penitentiary (pre-trial detention cell) and do not plan to be.
3. I will definitely be at the front sooner or later (this war will be long and hard, as I warned you beforehand). But not right now.
 
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