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

[MsFacetious]

Four people will be charged with murder and causing the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, five years after the plane was shot down in eastern Ukraine killing 298 people, international investigators said Wednesday.

The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) said it would issue national and international arrest warrants for the four suspects. Three Russians, Igor Girkin, Sergey Dubinskiy and Oleg Pulatov, were named, along with Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko.

MH17 crash investigators say four suspects face murder charges - CNN

 

[PastTense]

"Ukraine will try to arrest a Ukrainian suspect, Leonid Kharchenko, in relation to the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine, Interfax Ukraine quoted General Prosecutor Yuriy Lutsenko as saying on Wednesday."
Ukraine will try to arrest Ukrainian MH17 suspect: Interfax Ukraine - Reuters

 

[Roselvr]

Rebellenleider maakt zich geen zorgen om rechtszaak MH17: 'Het interesseert me niet'

During the MH17 disaster he was the leader of the pro-Russian rebels in Eastern Ukraine: Aleksandr Borodaj. Now five years on the Netherlands starts a lawsuit against the suspects. "I'm not worried at all", Borodaj says in an interview with RTL News.

298 people were killed when flight MH17 was downed over eastern Ukraine on 17 July 2014. Aleksandr Borodaj, a Russian from Moscow, was at the time of the MH17 disaster leader of the rebels in Eastern Ukraine who were supported by Russia. As Prime Minister of the Donetsk People's Republic, Borodaj was politically responsible for the rebel territory.

Less than a month after the MH17 disaster, Borodaj resigned as prime minister. Nowadays he leads an organisation in Moscow that supports war veterans of the pro-Russian rebels.

Correspondent Martijn Smiers spoke with Borodaj in Moscow. About his memories of the day of the disaster, about the evidence concerning his rebel group and about the annual protest of the relatives against Russia. Watch the interview here.


According to the Joint Investigation Team (JIT), MH17 was shot down by a Russian Buk missile. Allegedly Russia supplied it to the rebels of Borodaj. But according to Borodaj, the rebels didn't have it at all and pictures proving that there was a Buk missile, are fake.

"Ukraine has already presented many photos and phone tapes that were fake. It is technically perfectly possible to use Photoshop to make a very good forgery that just looks real."

But Borodaj can't say from what it can be concluded that the evidence has been falsified. "Do you know? It's not up to me to prove it. I'm not worried at all. The Buk missile, the photos, the phone calls: it's all noise in the background for me. Why should I deal with noise?"

Tomorrow, at 1:00 p.m., the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) will announce that the Public Prosecutor's Office is opening a trial against a number of MH17 suspects. It is also expected that the investigation team will announce the names of suspects.

Borodaj says that it does not have any concerns about this at all. "Why should I worry?"

The Russian does not feel responsible for the disaster. "Responsibility? No, I don't feel that. Absolutely not. If I did feel responsible or guilty, then I would still be interested in the criminal case."

Will he'll come to court when a judge requests it? "I'll decide that when the time comes. But for the time being I don't care."

The evidence so far points in the direction of Borodaj's rebels. But the chance that Borodaj will have to serve a possible sentence for the MH17 disaster is small: Russia does not hand over its subjects.


BBM

I thought for sure Aleksandr Borodaj would be named but he is not.

 

[ZaZara]

Oekraïense speciale eenheden pakken separistenleider op in verband met MH17 | ThePostOnline


A Ukrainian special operations unit arrested last week a former military commander of the pro-Russian separatists who served in the town of Snizhne, close to where the Buk rocket that shot down flight MH17 was fired from. According to some sources, 58-year-old Vladimir Tsemach was the commander of the air defence at the time, reports de Volkskrant.

He was arrested on 27 June in his own apartment during an operation deep in rebel territory. Then the unit managed to smuggle him through the checkpoints of the pro-Russian separatists to the Ukrainian side of the front line. According to reports, they pretended he was paralysed. Tsemach has been accused of 'forming a terrorist group or a terrorist organisation'.

He is likely to be of particular interest to the authorities because he may know more about who was responsible for the shooting of the Malaysian Boeing on 17 July 2014, killing all 298 occupants.



BBM

 

[ZaZara]

The Arrest of Vladimir Tsemakh and Its Implications for the MH17 Investigation - bellingcat

Vladimir Tsemakh was reportedly abducted on 27 June 2019 in his hometown of Snizhne by Ukrainian agents, who knocked him unconscious and smuggled him out of separatist-held territory using fake documents and by disguising him as an old paralyzed man in a wheelchair. Novaya Gazeta reported that his arrest was easy because he was in alcohol-induced stupor at the time of the detention and abduction (his wife has also publicly stated that Tsemakh has an alcohol problem).

Two days later, a court in Kyiv gave way to a criminal case against Tsemakh, the charges document stating that he was suspected of committing a criminal offense under Part 1 of Article 258-3 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — creating a terrorist group or a terrorist organization — a standard charge brought against separatists by the Ukrainian authorities. This was also confirmed by both his lawyer and daughter. However, because Tsemakh was reportedly, and self-admittedly, the head of an air defense unit in Snizhne in the summer of 2014, and considering the fact that Ukrainian special forces were willing to risk carrying out a dare devil raid behind enemy lines, the main reason for the arrest has been understandably and quickly linked by many observers to MH17.


(...)

Despite his position as an air-defense commander, Tsemakh was most likely not involved in the actual downing of MH17. There is no indication that he has ever been trained to operate a Buk anti-aircraft system, and the recorded telephone intercepts have indicated that the Buk crew came from Russia. In our recent report we have also demonstrated that it was officers of the GRU DNR that were involved in the procurement of the missile launcher on the side of the separatists, though nothing indicates that Tsemakh was a member of this unit himself.

Nevertheless, the line “I pulled out that young guy, and I hid this [Buk]. I will show you even where it lifted off, and where I picked it/him up” in Tsemakh’s confession suggests that he was involved in hiding the Buk missile launcher and at least one of its crew members after the downing. There are hardly any details about the movement of the Buk during the aftermath. According to a reconstruction by the official Dutch-led Joint Investigation Team (JIT), the Buk was driven back to Snizhne autonomously after the downing, though they did not clearly specify at what time. One recorded phone intercept from 9:32pm between GRU DNR members Leonid “Krot” Kharchenko and Eduard “Ryazan” Gilazov reveals that the removal of the Buk and its crew did not go according to plan, as one of the Buk operators lost his colleagues and had to be escorted to Snizhne from an unspecified checkpoint. Some have suggested that this was the “young guy” that Tsemakh referred to in his confession, but it is unknown if this is true.

(...)

Whatever his actual role on 17 July 2014, Tsemakh’s arrest may have a significant impact on the JIT investigation and the pending court procedure. If his 2015 claims that he helped to hide the Buk missile launcher and part of its crew on 17 July 2014 turn out to be true, this would make him a key witness to JIT, and possibly an indicted suspect on counts of complicity and obstruction. Even if he was exaggerating his role on the day of the downing, in his position as local anti-aircraft unit commander he would have been well informed to make him a valuable witness to the prosecution.

The fact that he is currently charged in Ukraine on grounds unrelated to MH17 may be an indication of a strategy of the Ukrainian authorities and possibly JIT to offer him a deal with the prosecution and drop Ukraine’s criminal charges if he becomes a voluntary witness in the JIT case. Such a solution would ensure his physical presence in court in the Netherlands, which could not be ensured if he is indicted in the MH17 case due to constitutional constraints (a provision in Ukraine’s constitution prohibits extraditing its citizens to foreign nations).


BBM

 

[ZaZara]

RTL Z Nieuws 17:00 uur 90/140

Rowen (12) died in MH17 disaster, his group 8 now meets again.

Rowen Bats was 12 years old when he died in the M17 disaster. At that time he was in group 8 of the Lea Dasbergschool in Zutphen. His classmates of that time come together five years after that fateful day, to remember him.


BBM


Sweet video at link. How his classmates have grown, while Rowen remains forever 12.

Five years ago today, almost to the hour.

 

[Roselvr]

RTL Z Nieuws 17:00 uur 90/140

Rowen (12) died in MH17 disaster, his group 8 now meets again.

Rowen Bats was 12 years old when he died in the M17 disaster. At that time he was in group 8 of the Lea Dasbergschool in Zutphen. His classmates of that time come together five years after that fateful day, to remember him.


BBM


Sweet video at link. How his classmates have grown, while Rowen remains forever 12.

Five years ago today, almost to the hour.

Thanks again for thinking of us. I'm not seeing a video about the boy and his classmates.

 

[Roselvr]

RTL Z Nieuws 17:00 uur 90/140

Rowen (12) died in MH17 disaster, his group 8 now meets again.

Rowen Bats was 12 years old when he died in the M17 disaster. At that time he was in group 8 of the Lea Dasbergschool in Zutphen. His classmates of that time come together five years after that fateful day, to remember him.


BBM


Sweet video at link. How his classmates have grown, while Rowen remains forever 12.

Five years ago today, almost to the hour.

Having a storm it double posted. Cant find hot to delete my reply...

 

[ZaZara]

Thanks again for thinking of us. I'm not seeing a video about the boy and his classmates.

I hope this link works

Rowen (12) kwam om bij MH17-ramp, zijn groep 8 komt nu weer samen

IMHO this is the same link that I posted before, I had the link as header for the posting and it read Rowen (12) kwam om bij MH17-ramp, zijn groep 8 komt nu weer samen,
I wonder what happened because the first link has been renamed (???) leads to a general page with many videos. Very strange.

 

[ZaZara]

Piet verloor 3 familieleden bij de MH17-ramp, maar zijn broer is nooit teruggevonden

He lost three relatives in the MH17 disaster. His sister-in-law and nephew have now been identified, but his brother Alex has never been found. "We never really got news about my brother."

It is almost five years ago that flight MH17 crashed in Ukraine. Of all 298 victims, two have never been identified, including Alex, Piet Ploeg's brother. It makes it difficult to say goodbye, but at the same time he remainss hopeful that the NFI can still identify him. "Somewhere you keep hoping."

Under the name 'Bring them home', the largest identification operation ever was set up in the Netherlands for the repatriation, identification and reunification of all 298 victims after the disaster with the MH17 for a dignified farewell. When the first crates of remains arrived at the airbase in Eindhoven, Piet was watching.

In a funeral procession the hearse left for the Corporal of Oudheusdenkazerne in Hilversum, where the identification process would take place. "My sister-in-law was identified first, after which we received a number of identifications from my nephew. But we didn't hear anything about my brother."

After the funeral it remained silent. Nothing was ever found of Alex Ploeg, while other relatives can say goodbye to their loved ones after identification. "At a certain moment we also had a farewell to my sister-in-law and my nephew. But without my brother. To see three pictures, and only two coffins. That remains something very strange. I never thought that would make so much difference."

It's hard for Ploeg to accept that he has to say goodbye to his brother, without anything ever being found of him. He is also often confronted with it by others. "People then say to me: you know he's dead, don't you? What difference does it make then? I can't explain why it matters, but it certainly does."


BBM

Alex Ploeg. Still missing.

Hoop op identificatie laatste twee MH17-slachtoffers door nieuwe techniek NFI

Initially, the identification of the victims was rapid. "People could be identified in different ways. But the further we got, the more difficult the process was." Identifying the last victims is extremely difficult, especially 5 years later.

According to Kal (NFI), new techniques can provide a solution, even if he does not want to make any predictions. "The chances are slim, thousands of pieces of victims have already been examined. The hope is that the last two will be found among the last remains that are still here and have not yet been identified.

Perhaps a new technique can help to identify the last two victims as well. "A very interesting new technique has been developed by the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) in The Hague. At the ICMP, the remains, which we examined earlier, are examined again using the new technique."

Soon Arnoud Kal will be working with the new technique and he hopes for results. "I think it's a development that offers reasonably good prospects. Not only in the MH17 study, but also in other cases where victim material is in poor condition and is difficult to investigate and identify".

 

[Badsleuth]

How does Google NOT know where that plane went down?They know the location of 60% of the world's population at any given moment (imo).

 

[JerseyGirl]

Key witness in MH17 downing released from jail in Ukraine

A Ukrainian court on Thursday unexpectedly released a key witness in the case of the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, just minutes before Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was optimistic about an impending prisoner swap with Ukraine.

The appeals court in the capital Kyiv ordered the release of Volodymyr Tsemakh from custody on recognizance, pending further investigation.

 

[ZaZara]

Key witness in MH17 downing released from jail in Ukraine

A Ukrainian court on Thursday unexpectedly released a key witness in the case of the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, just minutes before Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was optimistic about an impending prisoner swap with Ukraine.

The appeals court in the capital Kyiv ordered the release of Volodymyr Tsemakh from custody on recognizance, pending further investigation.

Very frustrating!

 

[ZaZara]

Gevangenendeal Rusland en Oekraïne gaat door, onduidelijkheid over MH17-verdachte

The transfer of prisoners between Ukraine and Russia appears to have begun. At least the media and lawyers from both countries report this. According to correspondent Eva Hartog it is unclear whether MH17 suspect Vladimir Tsemach is one of them. "There is a lot of speculation about this."

Several Russian press agencies report that a Ukrainian plane has landed in Moscow and a Russian plane has arrived in Kiev. Russia put the Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov on the plane, reports his lawyer. Sentsov was arrested in 2014 after criticizing Russia's annexation of the Crimea.

The 24 crew members of a Ukrainian ship are said to have been repatriated by Russia as well. They were arrested by Russia in November. According to the Russians, their ship had illegally entered Russian waters near the Strait of Kerch.

A total of 35 people were involved, says correspondent Eva Hartog. "There is still no official confirmation from the Kremlin or the government in Ukraine. Last week everything seemed to be ready for the exchange, but then it was cancelled.

According to Hartog it is 'completely unclear' whether the Ukrainian MH17 suspect Vladimir Tsemach is also included in the exchange. He was released earlier this week. The Netherlands then insisted that he should not be handed over to Russia.


BBM

 

[ZaZara]

Fons Lambie on Twitter

Tweet from Fons Lambie, reporter RTL News:


Letter to Parliament about #Tsemach and #MH17: he has indeed gone to Russia. The Netherlands has tried to prevent a swap. That didn't work out. However, the Prosecution was able to interrogate #Tsemach.

BBM



Letter by Foreign Secretary describes what the Dutch Government has done to prevent the swap. The swap was halted for a while so the Prosecutor had the time and opportunity to question mr Tsemach.
The Prosecutopr has stated that there will be no consequences for the trial that will start on March 9, 2020.

 

[ZaZara]

Malaysia mahu bukti kukuh dan lengkap dalang tembak jatuh MH17

NEW YORK, UNITED STATES - Malaysia is dissatisfied with a decision by the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) MH17 that has decided to prosecute the plane crash incident.

Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad stressed that the country still wants strong evidence before any prosecutions are made.

Tun Dr Mahathir said this after delivering the country's statement at the General Debate in conjunction with the United Nations General Assembly (UN) in New York, United States.

Last June, JIT MH17 revealed four suspects - three from Russia and one from Ukraine - were the main culprits of the plane crash.


BBM

There is a video of the statement but no transcript (yet)

 

[ZaZara]

Dutch prosecution requests Russia extradite Boeing MH17 crash ‘suspect’ Tsemakh


"The Netherlands Public Prosecution Service (OM) has submitted a request for provisional arrest of Mr Tsemakh to the competent Russian authorities on September 7th 2019, for the purpose of extradition to the Netherlands," she [spokesperson for th OM] said.

In June 2018, Ukrainian intelligence agencies abducted Vladimir Tsemakh, a resident of the self-proclaimed DPR and former DPR air defense militia commander. He was secretly taken to Kiev from across the line of contact in Donbass. Tsemakh was among those released on September 7 in accordance with the agreement reached by Russia and Ukraine to swap detainees.

The information available suggests that the Dutch prosecution interrogated Tsemakh a few times. Prior to the swap, the service said that Tsemakh was a "person of interest" in the investigation and voiced hope that he would remain in Ukraine for the prosecution to have access to him. However, the Ukrainian side was only able to delay the swap a little bit which gave the Dutch time to question him again.


BBM

 

[ZaZara]

JIT releases witness appeal MH17

JIT releases witness appeal MH17
14 november 2019 - Landelijk Parket

The Joint Investigation Team (JIT), in which Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, Ukraine and the Netherlands have been cooperating since 2014, today releases a new witness appeal in the criminal investigation into the downing of flight MH17. The JIT is looking for information on the persons within the military and administrative hierarchy who enabled the shooting down of MH17 in Eastern Ukraine using a BUK-TELAR.

Contacts with the Russian Federation
The JIT witness call of June 2019 showed that the leadership of the self-proclaimed ‘Donetsk People’s Republic’ (DPR) maintained contact with Russian officials about military support in Eastern Ukraine. Recent analysis of information obtained by the JIT, including witness statements by former DPR-members, revealed that Russian influence on the DPR went beyond military support. This is supported by recorded telephone calls between the leaders of the DPR and high-ranking Russian officials.

For the purpose of this witness appeal, the JIT has released several intercepted telephone calls on the website www.jitmh17.com and ask questions.

Details are revealed about secure means of communication used between DPR fighters and Russian officials. The telephone numbers that were used are from the same series and appear to be provided by the Russian security service FSB. These telephone numbers were used on a daily basis to discuss administrative, financial and military matters in the DPR. The JIT wants to know by whom these telephone numbers were used.


BBM

 

[ZaZara]

The long pursuit of justice for victims of MH17, the passenger jet shot down over Ukraine


"We have just shot down a plane," a rebel commander said before realizing the catastrophic mistake. Yet another layer of evidence was supplied by Ukrainian villagers.

"You have eyewitnesses to the missile launch," Pelley said to Westerbeke. "Is that correct?"

"Yeah," Westerbeke said.

"More than one?" Pelley asked.

"I'd say I have an eyewitness. And how many, I didn't say how many," Westerbeke said.

Westerbeke said there is no doubt the missile system came from the 53rd Brigade of the armed forces of the Russian Federation.

They don't know who pushed the button, but, this past summer, Dutch prosecutors charged three Russians and a Ukrainian with 298 counts of murder: Sergey Dubinsky was head of intelligence for the pro-Russia rebels in Ukraine, prosecutors say; Oleg Pulatov, and Leonid Kharchenko were involved in delivering the missile system. The highest-ranking Russian accused is Igor Girkin, a retired colonel in Russian intelligence. He was in charge of the pro-Russia militia in Ukraine. We found him in Moscow, living under the protection of the Russian government. He told us, "Someone has to be the scapegoat, so they picked me and others who couldn't even theoretically shoot down this plane. The militia did not bring down the Boeing plane. I have no other comment."

Westerbeke said the Russians haven't been helpful at all in the investigation over the last five years.

"Because what they should've done is give us all the information and all the proof we needed in this difficult investigation," Westerbeke said. "They should have told us that at the second day after it happened, they should've told us, 'We made a mistake,' or 'We did something which shouldn't have happened.' They should have come forward. That is what they should have done, and they never did."


BBM


The trial is scheduled to begin March 9 and will be heard by a panel of three Dutch judges.
Prosecutors will continue with their investigation beyond the trial. They hope to charge additional suspects.

 

[ZaZara]

Six years ago today.

Thinking of those we lost and their loved ones who were left behind on this dfficult day.


The trial of the four suspects in the downing of flight MH17 will continue on August 31.

All info in English:

MH17 plane crash