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Agence France-Presse

Four suspects have been charged with murder over the shooting down of flight MH17 in July 2014 with the loss of 298 lives, Dutch National Police chief Wilbert Paulissen said on Wednesday.
He identified Russians Igor Girkin, Sergei Dubinsky and Oleg Pulatov, along with Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko, as suspects in the downing of the plane, and announced their trial would start in March next year.
All passengers and crew on board the flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur were killed on July 17, 2014, when a missile shattered the Boeing 777 in mid-air sending debris and bodies raining down onto farms and fields of sunflowers in a territory in eastern Ukraine held by pro-Russian separatists.
The investigating team said it would not ask Russia and Ukraine to extradite four suspects.
Prosecutor Fred Westerbeke said the team realised the constitutions of both countries prohibited that.
“In the short term, we will ask Russia to hand the summons to the suspects who are in the Russian Federation,” he said.
The investigators will also ask Russia to arrange for the suspects to be interviewed about the charges, he added.

Relatives of the victims were briefed on the development ahead of the announcement.
“There is a court case on March 9, 2020 against four people for murder,” Silene Fredriksz, whose son Bryce and his girlfriend Daisy Oehlers were among the 298 dead, told reporters.
She expressed relief that five years after the incident, someone was being held accountable. “I am happy that the trial is finally going to start and that the names have been announced. It’s a start. I’m satisfied.”
Asked if she personally blamed anyone for the crash, Fredriksz said: “Mr (Russian President Vladimir) Putin. Because he made this possible. He created this situation. He is the main responsible person.”
Russia ‘has proof’ missile that shot down MH17 was from Ukraine
The charges come nearly a year after the international probe into the crash said the BUK missile which hit the Boeing 777 had originated from a Russian military brigade based in the southwestern city of Kursk.
Russia has vehemently denied all involvement in the shooting down of MH17. On Wednesday it complained of being excluded from the probe despite “proactively” trying to be involved.
“You know our attitude towards this investigation. Russia had no opportunity to take part in it even though it showed initiative from … the very first days of this tragedy,” Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.




Ukraine’s deputy foreign minister Olena Zerkal said on Tuesday that four people would be named over MH17 and senior Russian army officers were involved.
Zerkal said the transfer of weapons like the BUK anti-aircraft missile system “is impossible without the [Russian] top brass’ permission”.
Dutch media have named several suspects, including the head of the 53rd anti-aircraft brigade, the Russian unit identified by the probe last year.
The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) probing the attack includes Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Ukraine.




The Netherlands and Australia said in May last year they formally “hold Russia responsible” for the disaster, after the findings on the origin of the missile were announced.
Of the passengers who died, 196 were Dutch and 38 Australian. Any trial is likely to be in the Netherlands where most the victims came from.
The suspects could be tried in absentia as Russia does not extradite its nationals for prosecution, said Dutch broadcaster RTL, quoting anonymous sources.
“After five years, it is finally clear that justice will be done. This is very important for surviving relatives,” said Piet Ploeg, president of a Dutch victims’ association who lost three family members on MH17.
Investigative website Bellingcat on Wednesday named a series of Ukrainian separatists it said were linked to the downing of MH17, based on phone intercepts previously revealed by the Dutch-led team.


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The four suspects will be tried for murder in a Dutch court on March 9 next year, investigators say


Three Russian nationals and one Ukrainian will be tried for murder in a Dutch court on March 9 next year, investigators say.


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Three Russians and one Ukrainian to be charged for murder in Netherlands over shooting down of MH17 flight

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}The four suspects will be tried for murder in a Dutch court on March 9 next year, investigators say

The four suspects will be tried for murder in a Dutch court on March 9 next year, investigators say