MH17 lawyer: full justice requires Kremlin accountability

Ukrainian news agency Suspilne spoke with Peter Langstraat, one of the seven lawyers representing families of the MH17 flight victims, shot down by a Russian missile in 2014.

They asked him about further legal struggles for justice, the feelings of family members, and what he considers to be the final point in a case that has been dragging on for a decade. 

Here’s the translated direct speech of the Dutch lawyer Peter Langstraat, interviewed by Suspilne:

Is the case closed? 

In November 2022, there was a verdict, and at the beginning of 2023, the district prosecutor said they were going to close the investigation because there were no new details to continue it, especially regarding the people who were in the BUK [missile system]. But the district prosecutor also stated: if they receive new information that can be used, the investigation will be reopened.

But nothing happened in this year and a half after the closure. So new developments seem very unlikely. Unless someone in the Russian government or military establishment suddenly stands up and says, “Oh, I have information!” But this won’t happen. So, the proceedings are closed.

Fighting for justice through other organizations

We also have proceedings in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). We are conducting procedures there for 570 clients. But keep in mind that along with complaints from Ukrainian citizens, there are now 8,500 individual complaints under consideration in the ECHR. 

Regarding the Dutch complaint, a year has passed since the court hearing, so we expect a verdict sometime in the first half of 2025. And only after that will individual complaints be considered. This will probably take years. By the way, these interstate complaints are very rare, and they are considered by the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights. 

It’s impressive: you’re sitting, and suddenly it’s like an old school bell rings. A person enters and says: “La Cour!” [“Court is in session!”] And then 21 judges in robes enter. It’s also a kind of symbol of justice against the Russian government, which has no idea what justice is.

There is also the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in Montreal. We filed a complaint, Australia filed a complaint against Russia for shooting down MH17. ICAO made a decision on admissibility. So, this means that we submitted everything correctly, and we can continue the case. 

Russia did not appeal this decision. Then they filed a complaint against 26 ICAO participants — due to sanctions. And what happened next? Suddenly they withdrew from this procedure. But ICAO will continue it. There will be another court hearing, I think, in October-November. Now the first court session clarified technical details about MH17. And in the fall, it will be more about the essence of the complaints. ICAO is a political organization, and Russia is playing these political games.

Compensation for relatives of victims

They received some compensation because we are negotiating with Malaysian Airlines’ insurer’s lawyers. Within the criminal process, we asked for compensation from the four suspects. As you know, three of them were sentenced to life imprisonment. But it’s still a bit cynical that they’re not going to pay.

But in the Netherlands, there is such a system: if the convicted person cannot pay compensation, do you know who will pay instead of them? The state of the Netherlands.

It paid 16 million euros ($17.4 million), including to foreigners, family members of the victims. In total, the Dutch government spent almost 170 million euros ($185 million) on the MH17 case. We want Russia to return this money to us.

How families of the victims cope with this tragedy

Most of them say, including my clients — and I represent a hundred family members of the deceased: “Okay, Peter, if there’s something important, tell us. But otherwise, we simply want to continue living.” There are people who even from the very beginning say: “I don’t want to hear anything more, please close my case, it’s enough for me.”

And there’s still a small group of families who work with the case, receive all the information, and their whole life revolves around MH17.

Commemorating the memory of MH17 disaster

I’m going to commemorate the victims of the disaster today. It will be impressive because 1300 people will come. There will be the Prime Minister, the King, many ministers, people from Australia, from Malaysia, of course, many family members. 

But at the same time, honestly, I think this is one of the last episodes of such a large-scale commemoration. In five years, it won’t be like this anymore. And in ten. Dutch society itself is already tired. They say: “Yes, we know about the tragedy and about people’s suffering, but that’s enough.”

We, the lawyers, as well as family members, could enter the reconstructed plane, which is now at the Gilze en Rijen air base. It’s impressive because you can go inside and look at the cockpit. And there you can see the truly devastating power of the BUK missile. Moreover, family members can even walk through the plane and see where their husband or child was sitting before the explosion. Probably, a large hangar will be built for this plane later. They don’t want to display it outside. Some family members talked about this: they say they don’t want to constantly stumble upon it.

 The MH17 tragedy was a turning point for the Netherlands

Firstly, this is the largest attack on the civilian population of the Netherlands since World War II. We are not warriors. Ukrainians are perhaps warriors. Poles are warriors. In the 16th century, we were warriors, but now we are traders. 

We were a bit naive about the Russians. Always, when I, for example, talked with Polish lawyers, they told me: beware of the Russians. And it was true. I can’t tell you the details, but we were intimidated by Russian special services.

But the Dutch government was also naive. Even in 2014, the king [Willem-Alexander, monarch of the Netherlands] and Maxima [Queen of the Netherlands] were drinking beer in Sochi [city in Russia] with Putin. It sounds a bit dramatic, but after MH17, we lost our naivety about Russia. It opened our eyes.

What justice means in the case of MH17

Firstly, the convicted — Girkin, Dubinskiy, and Kharchenko — should be imprisoned. They are on Interpol lists, as soon as they leave Russia, they will be arrested. But they won’t do this, they will remain under “Putin’s umbrella”. 

The people who fired the missile from the BUK system were sentenced, but the chain in the military command must be further traced, which will likely lead all the way to the Kremlin. 

Because the missile for surface-to-air system BUK was carried by a convoy of 50 military vehicles: you can’t transport 50 large military vehicles from Kursk [city in western Russia] to Eastern Ukraine without permission from the highest military command in the Kremlin. These people must be held accountable and convicted. And then full compensation must be paid to the Netherlands. And if this happens, we can close the case.

Background

On 17 July 2014, a Russian BUK anti-aircraft missile system shot down a Boeing-777 of Malaysian  Airlines flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur over the part of Donetsk Oblast not controlled by Ukraine.

All 283 passengers and 15 crew members of the MH17 flight died. Most of them were from the Netherlands, but also from Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany, the Philippines, Canada, the US and other countries. 

On 17 November 2022, the Hague District Court delivered its verdict and found three individuals guilty: Russian citizens Igor Girkin-Strelkov and Sergey Dubinsky, and Ukrainian citizen Leonid Kharchenko. All three were sentenced to life imprisonment in absentia for their roles in the downing of the aircraft. 

In 2024, however, Igor Girkin (Strelkov) was sentenced to four years in a Russian penal colony but with other charges. He criticized the Russian ineffective military campaign against Ukraine, which a Russian court deemed as a discredit to the Russian army, and sent him to prison for this.

The court ordered the convicted individuals to pay compensation to the relatives of the victims, with the total amount of compensation exceeding 16 million euros ($17.4 million).

The Hague District Court also found that Russia controlled the self-proclaimed “Donetsk People’s Republic” (“DNR”) since at least May 2014 and was guilty of this disaster. 

Throughout the investigation and trial, Russia consistently denied any involvement in the downing of MH17. 

Related:

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• EU: Russia must admit responsibility for MH17 tragedy
• Remembering the tragedy: 9 years since MH17 was shot down over Ukraine
• Putin approved supply of missiles that shot down MH17 in 2014, investigators say – media