THE HAGUE: One of the 4 males on trial for homicide over the capturing down of an airliner over Ukraine in 2014 advised Dutch judges on the ultimate day of his trial on Friday that he’s not responsible as his legal professionals stated he ought to be acquitted.
Prosecutors say Oleg Pulatov, two different Russian nationals and a Ukrainian helped provide a missile system that Russian-backed separatists used to fireplace a missile at Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17. All 298 folks on board had been killed.
In December prosecutors demanded life phrases for Pulatov, Igor Girkin, Sergey Dubinsky and Leonid Kharchenko. All stay at giant and solely Pulatov instructed legal professionals to behave on his behalf. The others are being tried in absentia.
“I’m not responsible, I had nothing to do with the crash on July 17, 2014,” Pulatov stated in a Russian video assertion performed in courtroom and translated into English.
Most of the victims of the incident, which occurred after Russian proxies launched a separatist insurgency in japanese Ukraine, had been Dutch nationals. The Dutch authorities holds Russia accountable. Authorities in Moscow deny involvement.
On the last day of the trial, which began in March 2020, Pulatov’s legal professionals argued that prosecutors had not correctly explored various situations that would clarify the crash. They stated there was no proof linking their shopper to the alleged firing of a missile.
After years of accumulating proof, a global workforce of investigators concluded in May 2018 that the Buk missile launcher used to shoot down the plane, which was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, belonged to Russia’s 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade.
Judges have adjourned the case and a verdict is anticipated in in direction of the top of this yr.- Reuters
