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The traumatized families of 298 people killed in the downing of flight MH17 over Ukraine in 2014 demanded justice from Russia as they testified for the first time in the Dutch trial of four suspects.
Relatives of passengers and crew were killed on July 17, 2014, when a Buk surface-to-air missile from a Russian base detonated the Amsterdam Boeing 777 in Kuala Lumpur above the sky above. over conflict-torn eastern Ukraine, said Monday they couldn’t really say goodbye to loved ones until those responsible were brought to justice.
Under Dutch law, relatives are allowed to make a victim impact statement in court without being asked questions. About 90 people plan to do so over the next three weeks, with some speaking via live video links from other countries.
“I think, probably next to the verdict, it is one of the most important days for family members as they can speak in court, but by speaking in court they are talking to suspects and also to those responsible. wherever they are. are hiding, “said Peter Langstraat, a lawyer representing relatives of the victims.” So it is a form of communication with the people who are responsible for this disaster.
International investigators have said a Russian-made missile fired from eastern Ukraine held by pro-Moscow rebels brought down the Boeing 777, but Russia has denied any involvement.
Relatives commemorate on July 17, 2021, in the memorial forest of Vijfhuizen Park, the disaster of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 which crashed seven years ago on July 17, 2014 [File: Sander Koning via ANP/AFP]“I wake up crying”
Ria van der Steen, who lost her father Jan and her stepmother Nell, said she was quoting Russian writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn: “They lie, we know they lie and they know we know they lie.
“I am full of feelings of revenge, hate, anger and fear,” said van der Steen, who was the first to testify.
“I know they are dead and I will not see them again, but I cannot end this farewell process, certainly not until those responsible for their deaths are found guilty of what they have.” made. “
Van der Steen recounted recurring nightmares in court, such as walking through the wreckage after the crash to search for his father.
“When I finally find him I have to tell him he’s dead and then I wake up crying,” she said.
Australian Vanessa Rizk, whose parents Albert and Maree were returning on the doomed plane from a European holiday, also singled out Russian President Vladimir Putin and his government in connection with the “political nightmare” that led to the accident, claiming that the perpetrators “deserved punishment for their heinous acts”.
“How would the attackers feel if they were their relatives?” How would Putin and his corrupt Russian government respond to this? she said via a live broadcast from Australia.
“I have no children”
A tearful Peter van der Meer told judges he lost his “life and future” following the deaths of his three young daughters Sophie, 12, Fleur, 10 and Bente, 7, as well as his ex-wife Ingrid.
“I hope the abusers will feel an urgency to speak out after the story I told you today, so that they can look at themselves in the mirror and not have to lie to their children or grandchildren. about what they did on July 17, 2014. he said.
Van der Meer said he stopped celebrating the Dutch feast of St. Nicholas after his daughters died. “It’s a festival for children. I don’t want to celebrate it anymore. I don’t have children, ”he said.
Russian nationals Oleg Pulatov, Igor Girkin and Sergei Dubinsky, and Ukrainian citizen Leonid Kharchenko are all on trial in absentia for murder. Only Pulatov has legal representation.
Chief Justice Hendrik Steenhuis set September 22, 2022 as a possible date for the verdict of the trial, but gave alternative dates in November and December of the same year.
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