Three convicted & sentenced to life in prison for downing flight MH17; One acquitted

The court presiding over the criminal case regarding the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 convicted defendants Igor Girkin, Sergey Dubinskiy, and Leonid Chartchenko, and sentenced all three of them to life imprisonment. It acquitted the fourth suspect, Oleg Pulatov. The 56-year-old was the only one of the four to be represented in court, while the three others were convicted in absentia.

The court ruled that the three did not seem intent on shooting down a passenger plane, but said that the act itself was criminal. Neither Girkin nor Dubinskiy, both Russian, are expected to serve any prison time as Russia does not typically extradite its own citizens. Chartchenko's fate is more uncertain, as he is Ukrainian. The three were also ordered to pay over 16 million euros in compensation to the victims' next of kin.

Prosecutors said soon after they would consider whether or not to appeal against the Pulatov's acquittal. They first intend to study the ruling. They have until 1 December to file an appeal.

The trial officially concluded at 3:45 p.m., exactly eight years, four months, and 25 minutes after the Boeing 777 passenger jet was shot out of the sky. The flight departed from Amsterdam on 17 July 2014 and was on its way to Kuala Lumpur when it was brought down over eastern Ukraine. All 298 people on board, including 196 Dutch citizens, were killed. There were 283 passengers and 15 crew members on the flight. The verdict in the case, which started in March 2020, was read in the highly-secured courtroom near Schiphol Airport on Thursday afternoon.

Years of international cooperation brought the Public Prosecution Service (OM) to the conclusion that the plane was shot down with a BUK missile fired from an agricultural field that was under the control of pro-Russian separatists at the time. Investigators managed to track the missile system from the Russian border to the field and back. In June 2019, the OM announced its intention to prosecute these first four suspects for their involvement in downing MH17: rebel leader Girkin, his right-hand man Dubinskiy, his Oleg Pulatov, and garrison commander Chartchenko.

In its verdict, the District Court of The Hague said it the three men who were convicted played a clear role in either the deployment of the Russian-made Buk missile that brought the plane down, or its removal from the field in eastern Ukraine where it was utilized. As the person in charge of the military in the breakaway state of the Donetsk People's Republic, Girkin had ultimate responsibility for the act of using a sophisticated weapon to bring down a passenger jet, even if the plane may have been mistaken for a military target.

He was found culpable as a "functional perpetrator" who did nothing to stop the use of the Buk missile, said the senior judge on the panel, Hendrik Steenhuis, as he read the verdict. The court ruled that Dubinskiy was responsible for initiating the plan to bring the missile system into Ukraine, while Chartchenko was responsible for the transportation of the system.

The court said it was clear that use of the missile, an expensive surface-to-air weapon with a clear purpose, meant those involved knew what would happen if it locked onto a target. It required significant coordination and effort to bring the missile system from Russia, across the border into Ukraine, and then sending the transportation system and any remaining missiles back to Russia. Though the three convicted men may not have triggered the launch themselves, the three are responsible because of their rank on that day.

There was not enough evidence proving Pulatov was involved in the use of the missile, or the transportation of the Buk system in either direction, the judges determined. "There is no evidence that he himself made any contribution to the deployment of the Buk. The conclusion is therefore that he should be acquitted of this." They also said there was not enough evidence to show that he could have prevented the missile from being launched.

Additionally, the court said that the suspects could not try to claim immunity from prosecution because of an incident that happened during battles in the area. Even though the court said that it believed Russia was in full control over the Donetsk People's Republic when the plane was shot down, both Russia and the rebel separatists denied that they were part of the Russian Federation at the time.

Steenhuis said that in the court's opinion, it was undeniable that "MH17 was brought down by a Buk missile," and detailed the extensive body of evidence. This included intercepted telecommunications linked to the suspects, the pieces of shrapnel found in the victims and the aircraft, photos taken shortly after the missile launch, satellite imagery showing the area involved, and witness statements.

In its verdict, the court denied claims that evidence was fabricated, saying it was "incomprehensible" that such a vast amount of evidence could be tampered with or fabricated without a trace, and so quickly after the incident happened. It also refuted the reliability of expert testimony from Almaz-Antey, the manufacturer of the Buk missile system, in part because it is a Russian state-owned company affected by ongoing sanctions which presented claims without transparency.

According to the OM, all four suspects played an important role in bringing the BUK missile system to the field in eastern Ukraine or removing it from the site after the disaster. The prosecutor did acknowledge that they might not have realized they shot a passenger plane.

Nevertheless, the OM holds them responsible for the death of all 298 people who were on board the plan. The OM demanded life in prison against them in December 2021.

None of the suspects attended the trial. Pulatov was the only one to appoint lawyers to represent him. He vehemently denied any involvement in the MH17 disaster. His lawyers argued for his acquittal, accusing the OM of tunnel vision, dismissing relevant testimony, and calling the evidence against their client unreliable.