Dutch Court Refuses To Consider Alternative Versions Of Malaysian MH17 Boeing Crash

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th November, 2020) The court in the Netherlands handling the case of the Malaysian passenger plane crash over eastern Ukraine in 2014 has refused to consider alternative versions of the accident as per the request of lawyers of Russian national Oleg Pulatov, one of the suspects, judge Hendrik Steenhuis said on Wednesday.

"This request has to be declined," Steenhuis said at a hearing.

The case involves three other suspects � Russian nationals Igor Girkin and Sergey Dubinsky, and Leonid Kharchenko of Ukraine. Pulatov's legal team includes two Dutch lawyers and one from Russia.

The Malaysian jetliner crashed in July 2014 while flying over a conflict zone in Ukraine's east from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. All 298 people on board were killed. The prosecution believes that the plane was downed by a Russian missile launched from Ukraine's breakaway east.

To investigate the deadly crash, a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) has been set up by Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Ukraine.

They have claimed that the plane was hit by a Buk missile belonging to the Russian armed forces. Russia, which is not part of the JIT, has consistently denied the allegations and offered its cooperation in the investigation but was denied access to the probe.

In particular, Russia has provided the Dutch investigators not only with Russian radar data but also the documents proving that the Buk missile, which hit the Boeing, actually belonged to the Ukrainian forces and was launched from a territory controlled by Kiev, Sputnik has learned from Russia's Deputy Prosecutor General. The Dutch court has confirmed the receipt of these documents at the first hearing.

Russia has consistently denied any involvement in the crash and warned that it would only be able to admit the findings of the investigation if allowed comprehensive participation in it.