UN aviation body rules Russia downed Malaysian airliner, say Dutch
FILE PHOTO: People hold flags at a memorial to victims of the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 plane crash during a ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of the accident, near the village of Hrabove (Grabovo) in the Donetsk region, Russian-controlled Ukraine, July 17, 2024. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko/File Photo
OTTAWA - The U.N. aviation council on Monday ruled that Russia was responsible for the downing of a Malaysian airliner over Ukraine in 2014 with the deaths of 298 passengers and crew, the Dutch government said.
In a statement, it said the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization would in the coming weeks consider what form of reparation was in order.
Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 departed from Amsterdam for Kuala Lumpur on July 17, 2014, and was shot down over eastern Ukraine as fighting raged between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian forces.
In November 2022, Dutch judges convicted two Russian men and a Ukrainian man in absentia of murder for their role in the attack. Moscow called the ruling "scandalous" and said it would not extradite its citizens.
The ICAO, which is based in Montreal, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The case was launched in 2022 by Australia and the Netherlands.
"The decision is an important step towards establishing the truth and achieving justice and accountability for all victims of Flight MH17, and their families and loved ones," Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp said in a statement.
"This decision also sends a clear message to the international community: states cannot violate international law with impunity."
The Netherlands and Australia want the ICAO Council to order Russia to enter into negotiations over reparations, he added.
ICAO lacks regulatory power but holds moral suasion and sets global aviation standards overwhelmingly adopted by its 193-member states. REUTERS
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