GUILTY Netherlands - Malaysia Flight MH17 shot down in Ukraine. 298 aboard. 7/17/2014 #4

I went to school with one of the passengers on this plane, actually I was in the same class as their sibling. It so weird to be able to read this and know i have passed this person in the halls or had brief conversation and years later they're on the news because they have passed away many miles away from home. its scary that ANYTHING can happen to anyone of us at anytime .
 
BELLINGCAT: INVESTIGATORS IDENTIFY RUSSIAN GENERAL, ALSO FOCUS ON SECOND MILITARY

AD.nl
https://www.ad.nl/buitenland/bellingcat-heeft-ook-tweede-mh17-militair-op-de-korrel~a709ac29/

The Russian general Nikolay Fyodorovich Tkathachov turns out to be one of the military for whom the team investigating the MH17 disaster is looking. This conclusion is reached by the Bellingcat research collective. the investigators are also working hard to expose a second suspect.

The journalistic citizens' network Bellingcat reviewed sound recordings provided by investigators of the MH17 disaster. There was a suspicion that General Tkathachov's voice could be heard. That is why the Russian website The Insider persuaded the general to give an interview, so that his voice could be compared to the sound recorded by the Joint Investigation Team (JIT).


There turned out to be a match and that is a victory, says one of Bellingcat's civilian investigators. This is the first time we have been able to identify a suspect who is still so active in the Russian army. That is an important discovery.


The JIT is pleased with the findings of Bellingcat. "We have received this report with great interest,'' the Public Prosecution Service reports on behalf of the investigators. The JIT called for people to listen to the sound recordings, so that they could identify the people who can be heard on them. The Russian general is known under the code name' Delfin', at the moment Bellingcat is still looking for a second suspect with the code name' Orion'. "I cannot give too many details about that investigation. But we have a starting point, even though it is a complicated quest."

The sound recordings used by Bellingcat can be found on their website. The investigators committed themselves to the MH17 disaster to identify perpetrators. When the aircraft with flight number MH17 of Malaysia Airlines was taken down above Ukraine, all 298 passengers were killed. Since then, there has been a hunt to identify suspects.


BBM


Go go go Bellingcat!


Link to call for witnesses from Dutch police (in English) with conversations between 'Orion'and 'Delfin':
https://www.politie.nl/themas/flight-mh17-2.html


https://youtu.be/0a6nMJyZ1JU
 
RUSSIAN GENERAL: REPORT IS ABSURD


RTL Nieuws
https://www.rtlnieuws.nl/buitenland/beschuldigde-generaal-ontkent-betrokkenheid-bij-neerhalen-mh17


The Russian general Nikolay Fyodorovich Tkathachov calls the reports that he would be involved in bringing down the MH17 absurd.


Yesterday, investigative collective Bellingcat reported that Tkathachov is one of the two men being sought. Bellingcat came to that conclusion after listening to recorded conversations and analysis of his voice.

"This is plainly nonsense," the general says in the Russian newspaper Pravda. "I have been living in Yekaterinburg for many years, working in the field of military patriotic childhood education. I am in constant contact with public organisations, I participate in various public events and I always stay in sight of mass media. I have nothing more to add to this.

In July 2014, when the aircraft with flight number MH17 of Malaysia Airlines was downed over Ukraine, all 298 passengers died. The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) has long been looking for two men suspected of being involved in the attack.

One of the two, with the code name' Delfin', is General Tkathachov, according to the collective. In July 2014, he was in East Ukraine to improve cooperation between the rebels.


BBM


I hope the press manages to agree on the spelling of his name. It is also (?) written as Tkatsjev, and Tkatchev and Tkatchishev.
 
MH17 may have been shot down 'by mistake' – Dutch media

There is an 'extremely large amount of material' which suggests flight MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine by accident, the leader of the team investigating the incident has told the Dutch news outlet NRC.

https://www.unian.info/world/2328209-mh17-may-have-been-shot-down-by-mistake-dutch-media.html

I am trying to find the original source, but the interview is hiding behind a thick paywall. :( Anyway, what Westerbeke does not imply is that someone accidentally pulled the trigger when the plane happened to pass by.

Eliot Higgins of Bellingcat has published parts of the interview in his twitter-feed in English translation.

Let me see if I can insert that here ... yes I can and if you enlarge it, it is perfectly readable:



DSSU425XcAA1PsY.jpg


'Because something happens 'accidentally' does not mean that you are not criminally liable'



https://twitter.com/EliotHiggins/status/947045781705551872
I recommend the entire thread.
 
I'm not quite understanding the comment that it was shot down accidentally. Is he saying that the missile was accidentally fired? My belief from before is that the "accident" was in the separatists mis-identifying the aircraft on radar as a Ukrainian transport and not realizing it was a passenger jet. But that they did intend to shoot it down. Is this guy saying something different? I'm not seeing all of the article.
 
I'm not quite understanding the comment that it was shot down accidentally. Is he saying that the missile was accidentally fired? My belief from before is that the "accident" was in the separatists mis-identifying the aircraft on radar as a Ukrainian transport and not realizing it was a passenger jet. But that they did intend to shoot it down. Is this guy saying something different? I'm not seeing all of the article.

Hi PrairieWind, I am trying to find the original interview and I can't because of the paywall, I don't mind paying 50 cents but I'd be stuck with a subscription.

IMHO the reason that this is news is not so much because it is new, but because he is saying it. He most definitely does not say that the missile was accidentally fired (what's this button for? oops!), he mentions the chain of command, the skills that are necessary to fire a Buck.
IMHO again this is a lawyer speaking, and legally there is a difference (?) between aiming to down this particualr aircraft or downing this aircraft because the perpetrators thought it was an Ukranian plane.

Which is what they thought, and they were shocked to find not cargo but dead passengers - we learned as much during the first night after the plane went down.
 
Fred Westerbeke says it is still too early to draw conclusions but that a number of questions must be asked. In particular, the team wants to know why the Malaysia Airways plane was shot down rather than one from the ‘enemy’ Ukraine airforce. ‘It is really important for us to know this,’ he said.

‘Why was the BUK used to bring down a passenger airline rather than a jet fighter or an Antonov from Ukraine,’ he said. ‘What was the aim?’

http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archiv...-shot-down-by-mistake-investigator-tells-nrc/

Earlier this month, a Ukrainian court ordered the arrest of a Russian army veteran suspected of involvement in the downing. Sergey Dubinsky was suspected of arranging the movement of the BUK missile launcher into Ukraine. His voice was also allegedly heard in phone calls intercepted by the Security Service of Ukraine, telling Russian-led soldiers where to take the BUK.

On Dec 10 meanwhile, the Sydney Morning Herald said a semi-retired Russian general had been identified as the person monitoring the cross-border movements of the rocket launcher. The three-star general was identified as Nikolai Fedorovich Tkachev.

http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/ca...en-struck-by-accident-says-lead-investigator/
 
Found the original interview with Chief Prosecutor Westerbeke!

Will post the translation later - it is lengthy. :facepalm:
 
https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2017/12/29/dit-vergt-het-uiterste-van-je-kunnen-a1586627


Interview with Fred Westerbeke


Chief officer Fred Westerbeke leads the team that conducts criminal investigations into the downing of flight MH17. "That BUK missile didn't just happen to end up in the wrong hands"


Fred Westerbeke would like to give an interview at the end of a year in which many Dutch people have become impatient and finally want to know who was responsible for the disaster, more than three years ago, with flight MH17.

Westerbeke (55) is chief officer of the national public prosecutor's office in Rotterdam and is responsible for the management of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT). In this team, the Netherlands, Ukraine, Malaysia, Australia and Belgium are working on the criminal investigation into the crash on 17 July 2014. The aircraft of Malaysia Airlines was shot down above East Ukraine by a BUK missile. All 298 passengers and crew members, including 196 Dutch, died. We speak with Westerbeke at the national public prosecutor's office in Rotterdam.

How do you look back on this year?

There is no investigation on which so many policemen have worked. You talk about an average of fifty to seventy full-time people. That is a lot. And rightly so, because it is a terrible crime. The people from the four countries with which we work have to be added to this. Many policemen from Australia in particular are still involved, here and in our field office in Kiev.

Many people say: can the investigation not go faster?

I understand that very well. People who are emotionally involved, because they are relatives of victims, who certainly remember their loved ones at this time of year, ask themselves this question. On the other hand, there are many investigations lasting four, five or six years. We have coldcase studies from the last century. Recently, in Germany, the lawsuit was opened for a music festival in which people were squeezed to death, seven years later. I cannot say how fast things are going. However... we do everything we can to get the truth out on the table.

For the outside world, little seems to have happened.


It seems quiet, but a lot is happening. We are not in a dead end. On the contrary. We still find material. Let me give you an example. Intelligence services from Ukraine have recorded hundreds of thousands of telephone calls in what for them are terrorist investigations. Many recordings are currently being made available, they can only now be released once the criminal cases have been completed. It is a search for a number of pins in a haystack. But there are relevant discussions. They take us to witnesses and possible suspects. The picture is coloured step by step. Witnesses are incredibly important. We are trying to persuade people. One witness can be enough for the kind of colouring we need.


Isn't it late to persuade witnesses?


Time can work to your advantage. People think: this needs to be clarified. They become more remorseful. Or they don't want to talk until their safety is assured. We have provisions for this. To this day, people are seeking contact with us. That is not easy by the way, for example, they are in areas where we cannot come. I'm not going to tell details, but there are methods for secure communication.

You hardly ever tell anything about your results. This paves the way for all kinds of theories.

We have not published any new material, but the judiciary has never done so in current criminal cases. You can put your own investigation in trouble if you do so. Judges also take offence, they believe that evidence should be shown at the hearing. And rightly so. Many people ask: when will your report come out? But there will be no report. There will be a criminal file and that goes to the trial. That is where we can be transparent. However, we inform the next of kin as much as possible about what we are doing. We want them to be able to trust us. We want them to know that all kinds of conspiracy theories are wrong. I have said to them on many occasions: yes, I would like nothing better than to say a lot more, but I would put the investigation at risk. I am confident that we will succeed, that we can bring a number of people to account.

Is it a difficult investigation?

Last year in September, we released what exactly happened. This had never been done before in a Dutch investigation. We have told you that MH17 shot down with a BUK, where the BUK came from, and that there were about a hundred persons or interest involved in the operation. But we also said at the time that the most difficult work is yet to come. We are faced with difficult circumstances. We couldn't talk freely to witnesses. Forensically it was very complicated. That has not changed. A civil war is taking place. We cannot get there. The area is still in the hands of what many people call separatists. We are now zooming in on the responsibility of certain people. Who are possible suspects? What have they done? What have they known? What was their purpose? This is even more complicated than determining exactly what happened.

What exactly are you focusing on?


What we are looking at in particular is the precise context of events. We also outlined this context in general terms last year. There was an armed conflict, taking place both on the ground and in the air, with separatists suffering serious losses in the days before 17 July 2014. They needed an anti-aircraft system and have been given a BUK. What is incredibly important to us in this situation is: what has made it possible that the BUK was used to bring down an airplane, and not a fighter plane or an Antonov of Ukraine? Because that was probably the intention.


So you assume that MH17 was more or less accidentally taken down?

"A lot of material points to this scenario. And so it is important to know how that happened. The fact that something happens' accidentally' does not mean that you are not criminally liable." He puts his right hand in front of both eyes. "Let me make this comparison. When, with my hands in front of my eyes, I empty my gun on a group of people, I can say that I did not want to kill anyone. But if that happens afterwards, I am responsible. The question is: what did the crew know about the BUK? What did the superiors know? On the basis of what information did they reach decisions, and what can be attributed to them? In order to gain more insight into this, witnesses are so important."

The fact that the BUK was there, isn't it a crime yet? Because it was war?

Well, it wasn't formally a war. It was a civil war. Compare it to a group of Dutch people who stand up and say they want to belong to Germany. If we say that Twente starts a war with the support of Germans, then we do not say that this is a war, then it is a terrorist act. That is how you have to consider it.

But bringing down MH17 wasn't a stupid act of a drunken soldier or something like that?


That is not obvious. To shoot a BUK, you have to be properly trained. Several people are involved. That BUK missile didn't just happen to end up in the wrong hands.

If it was an error of judgement, it was made by several people?

Let me put it like this: there have been several people involved in the operation. There is no chance that this was a personal mistake of one person.


How can multiple people commit such a blunder?

That is exactly what our research focuses on. Your question indicates why this is not a simple investigation.

The spokesman of Westerbeke is also present at the meeting. He takes the floor and says:"For the sake of clarity, this is a direction of investigation. There is not yet a preliminary conclusion that it happened 'accidentally'. Westerbeke: "It is a real, very important scenario that we are investigating."

In any case, it is a more realistic scenario than the fact that MH17 was shot down by a Ukrainian fighter plane, as the Russians once claimed.

That has been referred by us to the realm of fables. The Russians have moved on. The story about the fighter aircraft later turned out to be demonstrably incorrect. The Russians have been changing their scenario over a period of three years, in line with the evidence we got in our hands. This is a remarkable fact in itself.

A kind of compliment to you.

Well. Apparently they were struggling more and more. Their last scenario is that although a BUK may have been involved, it was fired from another area. Two years later, they suddenly came up with new radar data on which there is no BUK to be seen and so, they said, the BUK was not there. That is not true. We have always mentioned this: the absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence. Every radar expert can explain that because of its small surface area and its speed of three times the sound is probably also not visible on good radar images.

The Russians also said that the BUK had been fired from another area.

They said that he could have been shot from another area. But that other area was also in the hands of the separatists. Remarkable. If I may say so.

You talk about the radar data that has been so much of a matter before. What does it say?

We immediately said: we are going to study the radar data and add them to the file. The investigation did not have the greatest priority for us in terms of speed. Because their position was wrong. If nothing can be seen on it, it does not say anything. We are almost done now. But I am not going to say anything else about it.

The radar images don't matter anyway? There is an overwhelming amount of other evidence?

That is it. We have so much material about what has happened that there can be no doubt that it has gone that way. There is plenty of evidence. Legal and convincing evidence. So stop being restless about radar data.

How is the cooperation with Russia going?

You have to make a distinction. I am dealing with my colleague from the Public Prosecutor's Office there. We make requests for legal assistance. We got a lot of material. That takes time. Something else is what the Government of the Russian Federation is doing. If these other versions are made public, I have my reservations about them, but they do not make cooperation with my Russian colleagues any more difficult.

No? Because your Russian colleague is as independent of politics as you are here?

That is difficult to assess. I assume that there will be influence, but I see it as two separate channels. In any case, I am not dealing with official government positions, but with my own investigation.

There are regular publications about possible suspects, such as a Russian General Tkatshov, and an old colonel Dubinsky. Are they correct?

We make no statements about people and their involvement. I am not going to do that in this interview either. But all material in media, on the internet or from the Bellingcat research site, is a fuel for our research. For us every identification of a person we are looking for is interesting.

But is that information surprising to you?

We have never been surprised by this kind of news. We have the people that are mentioned very well on our radar. What the newspaper says, we have been working on that for months. We often have known the content of these messages a long time ago. That is what these dozens of people are working on with us every day.

Can you offer prison relief to suspects?


Under Ukrainian law, there are possibilities for reducing sentences in exchange for statements. If an MH17 suspect makes an essential contribution to the investigation, a deal can be made with us about discounting the penalty to be demanded by us. In the Netherlands, this can be at most half that figure. Suppose someone can get an x-number of years for transportation of the BUK, then we can reduce the penalty by half.

It is a pity that Russia does not extradite nationals, not?

Suppose that we will soon be dealing with Russian suspects, then the question is: can we hear them? Yes, it must be possible, because that is possible in the context of mutual legal assistance.

But extradition is not possible.

They are not allowed to extradite people for trial elsewhere. We see it when it comes to that point. I have learned to climb a staircase per step ".

Soon you will have a nice file and the suspects will not come to court. Isn't that frustrating?

I would be very sorry indeed. If that happens, it is second best. Frustrating is not the word that comes to mind .

And that the trial will be in the Netherlands? Not a UN tribunal?

The fact that the international community entrusts the Netherlands with the task of bringing the case to trial is an appreciation for the Dutch legal system. That is good. Furthermore, all legal rules have been elaborated in an existing legal system. There is case law. Everything you can get on legal questions has been discussed before. This gives a lot of predictability in the prosecution. That is an advantage over a tribunal. The establishment of a tribunal is still subject to the formation of the law.

It is even better than a tribunal?

As a professional, as a public prosecutor, I have a preference for trial in an existing, independent system. It is important, however, that the trial has an international reputation. It should be available internationally via a website, with interpreters and subtitling. We are thinking about that.

Nevertheless, the Dutch government wanted a UN tribunal.

You can look at it in two ways. I look at it professionally. In my opinion, the very best would have been a UN tribunal. The advantage of this is that all countries are bound by its conditions. Russia should also contribute to this.

And they must extradite suspects.

In my opinion, yes, indeed.

How do you experience this work personally?

It is not the only job I do. Yet is is the most important. I have often spoken to relatives. I see what this investigation means to them. That is why you are motivated to do this right within every fibre of your body. Just like all other colleagues from the police and the Public Prosecution Service who are working on this investigation. A mother once sent me a photo of her fallen child. That photo is on my desk at home. Let me not be dramatic. I regularly look at that photo.

Professionally, it's the biggest challenge I've ever had. I have been working as a policeman and officer for 36 years now and this is the most complicated thing I have ever had on my hands It takes the utmost of your ability.

Is it difficult to be held accountable for this investigation everywhere?

The most difficult moments are when things are said that just don't fit, especially for the next of kin. The only thing I can do is repeat: don't worry, forget the wild tales, we're going on relentlessly.

When are you ready?

I cannot say that. You can reasonably plan to build a house. You know when materials come. We do not know that. You are dependent on your own professionalism, but also on a windfall. And sometimes you have to be a little lucky with witnesses. With someone who says: and now I am fed up, I am coming. We are ready when it the moment arrives. It must be done carefully and completely.

What happens if you don't work carefully?

What matters in every criminal case is the question: can the evidence be interpreted differently? That is at the heart of the famous Meer en Vaart-Judgement of the Supreme Court. If the evidence does not rule out an alternative scenario, then the case is not complete, then the verdict becomes acquittal. We must be able to exclude all alternatives.


BBM
 
ZaZara, thanks for the info. So I guess he is saying, yes the meant to fire it, but probably thought it was a Ukranian military plane, but that doesnt absolve them of responsibility. Which is totally correct. I am glad to see this investigation is going forward. AFter the shootdown, rebels tried to prevent investigators from getting to the sight, smuggled the BUK back out of the area, etc. Probably hoping and assuming that since there is a civil war going on, it would get swept under the rug. This can't go unpunished. People in Russia sent that BUK to the rebels, or even sent operators along with it. That was an incredible escalation in my opinion.
 
https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2017/12/29/dit-vergt-het-uiterste-van-je-kunnen-a1586627

What happens if you don't work carefully?

What matters in every criminal case is the question: can the evidence be interpreted differently? That is at the heart of the famous Meer en Vaart-Judgement of the Supreme Court.

If the evidence does not rule out an alternative scenario, then the case is not complete, then the verdict becomes acquittal. We must be able to exclude all alternatives
.


BBM

sbm

Okay, this really hit me like a ton of bricks, how TRUE it is!
I WISH every legal system looked at cases like this!
It would all but eliminate false arrests, incarcerations and convictions.

The number of cases where another 15 minutes of research by the detective would prove the person innocent and prevent charges are mind blowing.
If detectives looked at it as eliminating other suspects or possibilities... they might not arrest so many innocent people.

I'm saving that quote for sure.
 
Vier jaar na de MH17-ramp, hoe staat het met het onderzoek?

It's four years since the MH17 disaster. The names of all 298 killed will be read today during a ceremony at the memorial park in Vijfhuizen, near Schiphol Amsterdam Airport.

Article above in Dutch but Google translate does a decent job without any factual errors. Good summary of whats been happening in the investigation so far.
 
'Nieuwe ontwikkelingen' in onderzoek naar vlucht MH17

The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) that conducts the investigation into the downing of flight MH17 announces that there are 'new developments' in the criminal investigation. This becomes apparent from an e-mail that was sent to the surviving relatives.

Next Wednesday, the JIT will announce the new developments at stake. First, the next of kin will be informed. The international press will be informed at 13.00 hours.

Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Ukraine work closely together in the Joint Investigation Team. The aim of the investigation team is to find out how the disaster could have happened and to bring the suspects to justice.


BBM


According to Dutch broadcaster NOS:

Onderzoeksteam maakt woensdag bekend wie achter neerhalen MH17 zat

Investigation team announces Wednesday who was behind the downing of MH17
 
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Bellingcat noemt nieuwe betrokkenen van neerhalen MH17

Research collective Bellingcat announces that next week new names of people involved in the downing of flight MH17 will be revealed. These are people whose telephone conversations were tapped at the time of the missile strike. Bellingcat founder Eliot Higgins has confirmed this.

"We have produced a hundred page report in which we go into the details of the telephone conversations tapped in that period. We think that we have now identified everyone in those conversations and will mention the names of everyone in those conversations," Higgins told in conversation with this site.

Some time ago, Bellingcat shared the data with the JIT, the Joint Investigation Team that is preparing to prosecute MH17. "Of course we don't want to get in the way of their investigation and wouldn't want information to be taken offline after the publication of our investigation before the JIT has seen it."

It will be a week of truth for MH17 anyway, because next Wednesday the JIT will also come with a press conference, according to the Dutch Public Prosecutor's Office on Friday morning. There is speculation in the media as to what news will be published. Will the JIT come up with names of suspects, or will a possible prosecution decision be published?

According to one source involved, the press conference is related to Bellingcat's most recent findings. "This would more or less force the JIT to publish information. Otherwise someone else will come forward with it. That's the dilemma."

According to sources, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is also preparing for the new revelations. Every step in the MH17 process has diplomatic consequences for relations with Russia. Russia still strongly disputes involvement in the downing of flight MH17. The JIT previously announced that the BUK launcher used came from the 53rd Brigade of the Russian army from Kursk.

Bellingcat already did a lot of research into the attack on the aircraft. In May of last year the civilian investigators already mentioned two names of those directly involved. Among others that of the Russian colonel Oleg Ivannikov of the military intelligence service GRu, he was the highest military in the region at the time. At that time too, the JIT held a press conference immediately before the revelation.


BBM
 
Openbaar Ministerie begint rechtszaak tegen MH17-verdachten


The Public Prosecutor's Office is starting a lawsuit against a number of MH17 suspects. The decision has been taken to prosecute. Sources report to RTL News that the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) will announce this coming Wednesday.


Investigators have done the last checks and double checks in recent months. Things are looking good, according to sources. Insiders seriously take into account a conviction in absentia, but that is ultimately up to the judge.

The JIT does not want to comment on the news and refers to the press conference next Wednesday.

It is also expected that the investigation team will announce the names of suspects.

The name of a high-ranking Russian army officer was previously published by the journalist investigation platform Bellingcat. The army officer would be responsible for the transport of the Buk missile, that was used to shoot the aircraft out of the air. Next week Bellingcat is planning to release more names.

The investigators of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) announced earlier today that there are 'new developments' in the criminal investigation. Coming Wednesday the new developments will be announced.

Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Ukraine work closely together in the Joint Investigation Team. The aim of the investigation team is to find out how the disaster could have happened and to bring the suspects to justice.

First of all, next of kin will be informed on Wednesday. The international press will be informed at 13.00 hours.


BBM
 
I'm happy to hear that this investigation is still on going and thorough. These people responsible need to be exposed. They will never face legal consequences of course, but they can be exposed. They will never be able to leave Russia at least.
 
How do you live on when your world ends?



"As the fifth anniversary of the MH17 tragedy approaches, Maz and Rin are telling their story for the first time. They want to thank the people who helped them and honour their kids and Nick. They hope their story of overcoming intense grief might be helpful for others."


RIP Mo, Evie and Otis


Transcript:
How these parents filled the silence after their children were 'shot out of the sky'
 
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