Families slam 'corrupt' Russia at MH17 crash trial

[THE HAGUE] The families of 298 people killed in the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines' Flight MH17 over Ukraine in 2014 on Monday demanded justice from Russia as they testified in the Dutch trial of four suspects.

People who lost relatives in the crash of the MAS plane said they could not truly say goodbye to their loved ones until those responsible had been brought to book.

International investigators say a Russian-made missile fired from territory in eastern Ukraine held by pro-Moscow rebels brought down the Boeing 777, but Russia has denied all involvement.

Ria van der Steen, who lost her father Jan and stepmother Nell, said she was quoting from the Russian writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn: "They are lying, we know they're lying and they know that we know that they're lying."

She added: "I am full of feelings of revenge, hate, anger and fear. I know they are dead and I will not see them again, but I can't put an end to this process of saying goodbye, certainly not until those who are responsible for their deaths are found to be guilty for what they have done."

Russian nationals Oleg Pulatov, Igor Girkin and Sergei Dubinsky, and Ukrainian citizen Leonid Kharchenko are all being tried in absentia for murder. Only Pulatov has legal representation.

Australian Vanessa Rizk whose parents Albert and Maree were travelling back on the doomed plane from a European holiday, said the perpetrators "deserved punishment for their heinous actions". "How would the perpetrators feel if it was their loved ones? How would (President Vladimir) Putin and his corrupt Russian government answer that," she said via livestream from Australia.

Around 90 relatives, both from the 196 Dutch victims of the crash as well as those from Australia and Malaysia, are expected to address the court in the coming days.

Head judge Hendrik Steenhuis set Sept 22, 2022 as a possible date for the verdict in the trial, but gave alternative dates in November and December of that year.

AFP