Families
of MH17 victims
demand UN takes over Dutch
investigation’
:
RT,
5
December 2014
Relatives
of MH17 crash victims have addressed the Netherlands requesting the
UN takes over the investigation into the downing of the passenger
plane over Ukraine, blaming the Dutch of mishandling the inquiries
into the disaster, media report.
In
a letter directed to the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte the
relatives of the MH17 crash victims asked for “the
UN to appoint a special envoy to take over” the
inquiries by the Safety Board and prosecution service.
The
copy of the letter written by Van der Goen Attorneys representing the
families was cited by Reuters on Friday.
Twenty
relatives from Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and the US accused
the Netherlands of “completely
botching"
the fact-finding investigation and the legal framework of the case,
according to the letter.
The
victims’ families based their accusations on the fact that the
Dutch investigators have been unable to access the crash site,
located in eastern Ukraine, torn by internal conflict between Kiev
and self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics.
The
letter also blamed the investigators for failing to meet
international requirements to secure evidence.
Irritated
by the prolonged investigation, the letter said that an international
inquiry led by the UN is the only way to identify what brought down
the plane and ensure they are taken to court.
"Nobody
knows who is doing what,"
said Bob van der Goen, a spokesman for the law firm which took the
case, as quoted by Reuters. "There
is no coordination, there is no leadership whatsoever (by) Holland."
According
to Reuters, Van der Goen represented relatives of victims of the 1992
El Al jetliner crash in Amsterdam, the 2010 Afriqiyah Airways crash
in the Libyan capital Tripoli and the 1977 Pan Am-KLM crash in the
Canary Islands that left 583 people dead. The relatives of the
victims in the latter case received more than $100,000 each.
The
Malaysia Airlines MH17 flight crashed in East Ukraine on July 17. All
298 passengers and crew members on board the Boeing 777 were killed.
The victims came 10 nations, while most of the passengers – 193 in
total – were from the Netherlands, the second largest number of
casualties, 43, was from Malaysia.
Netherland's Prime Minister Mark Rutte
(AFP Photo/Frank Van Beke)
Two
parallel ongoing investigations into the disaster are led by the
Dutch with the first looking into the cause of the crash, and a
second - a criminal inquiry.
In
September the Security Council of the Netherlands (Dutch Safety
Board) released a preliminary report into the disaster which said
that the MH17 crash was a result of structural damage caused by a
large number of high-energy objects striking the Boeing from the
outside.
The
criminal investigation by the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) is being
led by the Public Prosecution Service of the Dutch Ministry of
Justice and also includes Belgium, Ukraine, Australia. Malaysia was
left out of the team in November due to its political neutrality, the
nation's media reported. The police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said he
would head to Amsterdam in December to discuss Malaysia’s
participation in the process with JIT members, joined by attorney
general Abdul Gani Patail.
"When
the crash happened, we did not blame any parties, neither Russia nor
Ukraine, as we would like to take a look at the concrete
evidence," head
associate professor in research and aviation at Kuala Lumpur
University, Dr. Mohamed Harridon, told RT.
He
added that unlike "western
counterparts,"
Malaysia has taken a “neutral
role,"
and not "pointed
fingers at Russia," suggesting
that that was the reason for the JIT neglecting the nation’s
participation in the investigation.
A
number of Western officials blamed Russia for the catastrophe,
claiming that it was caused by a surface-to-air missile launched by
local militia forces in eastern Ukraine with help from Moscow.
Russia
refuted the allegations expressing irritation with the lack of
evidence to support the claims. Moscow suggested the UN should
appoint a special representative to monitor the investigation.
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