AMSTERDAM: The Dutch court handling the murder trial of four suspects in the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine in 2014 said on Monday it would hand down its verdict on Nov. 17.
Prosecutors say the one Ukrainian and three Russian defendants, who are all at large, helped supply a missile system that Russian-backed separatists used to fire a rocket at the plane on July 17, 2014. All 298 people on board were killed.
The prosecution is seeking life terms for all suspects.
Lawyers for Oleg Pulatov, the only defendant who has chosen to participate in the proceedings through counsel, have argued that the trial was unfair and prosecutors did not properly examine alternative theories about the cause of the crash or the involvement of Pulatov.
The other suspects, named as Igor Girkin, Sergey Dubinsky, and Ukrainian national Leonid Kharchenko, are being tried in absentia. Under Dutch law Pulatov, while he is also at large, is not considered to be tried in absentia because he is represented through lawyers he has instructed.
The Boeing 777 was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was hit over Ukraine’s rebel-held Donetsk region by what international investigators say was a Russian-made surface-to-air missile. The eastern region has also become a key focus of Russia’s nearly six-month-old war in Ukraine.
Most of the victims on board MH17 were Dutch nationals. The Dutch government holds Russia responsible for the crash. Authorities in Moscow deny any involvement.
The MH17 case has seriously strained the Netherlands’ diplomatic relations with Moscow, even before the Russian invasion of Ukraine that started on Feb. 24.
Dutch court to announce ruling in MH17 murder trial on Nov. 17
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Dutch court to announce ruling in MH17 murder trial on Nov. 17
- The Boeing 777 was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was hit over Ukraine’s rebel-held Donetsk region
Rubio says Venezuela will need ‘fair, democratic elections’
- Rubio said he believed that Venezuela was heading to its next phase that should include elections
BASSETERRE: Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that Venezuela will need free elections after the US toppling of leader Nicolas Maduro, although he did not suggest a timeframe.
Rubio, addressing a Caribbean summit in Saint Kitts and Nevis, said he believed that Venezuela was heading to its next phase that should include elections.
“We believe strongly...that ultimately, in order for them to take the next step to truly develop that country and to truly benefit from that country’s riches for the benefit of their people, they will need the legitimacy of democratic — fair, democratic — elections,” Rubio said.
“But our initial priority in the aftermath of Maduro’s capture was to ensure that there wasn’t instability, that there wasn’t mass migration, that there wasn’t spillover violence, and we believe we have achieved that,” he said.
The United States once championed Venezuela’s democratic opposition but since removing Maduro on January 3 it has worked with interim president Delcy Rodriguez, who was Maduro’s deputy.
President Donald Trump has voiced satisfaction with Rodriguez, including her welcome to US oil companies, and threatened her with violence if she does not do his bidding.
Rubio, acknowledging misgivings by some Caribbean leaders, pointed to progress in Venezuela including the release of political prisoners.
“I will tell you this, and I will tell you this without any apology or without any apprehension: Venezuela is better off today than it was eight weeks ago,” Rubio said.
“The progress being made there is substantial, and there’s a long ways to go.”
