Russia appealing against MH17 conviction at International Court of Justice

Russia is appealing to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to challenge the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Council’s ruling on MH17, the state news agency Tass reported, citing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The council ruled in May that Russia is guilty of downing the passenger plane.

Russia denies involvement in the downing of the Malaysia Airlines plane and the deaths of the 298 people on board, including 196 Dutch nationals. The plane from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down over eastern Ukraine on 17 July 2014.

The Russian Ministry says it is now appealing to the court in The Hague because the investigation was careless. The council allegedly based its ruling on “quite questionable findings from a technical and criminal investigation by an interested party, the Nehterlands,” TASS quotes the Ministry as saying.

According to the Russian Ministry, the Netherlands wants to “demonize” Russia.

Russia immediately rejected the aviation council’s findings. The Ministry stressed that Russia’s current challenge to the conclusions should not be seen as “legitimization or recognition” of the findings.