NOS News - Interior - Today, 15:26 - Updated Today, 16:47
Prosecutors: no immunity for suspects of the MH17 disaster
Image: ANP
The four suspects in the MH17 trial cannot invoke the so-called combatant immunity. The Public Prosecutor's Office argued this at the trial of the suspects Girkin, Dubinsky, Poulatov and Chartshenko.
Combat immunity is a legal immunity from prosecution for combatants in an international armed conflict between states. Since the People's Republic of Donetsk and the Russian Federation itself have invariably denied the existence of an authorized relationship, they cannot now invoke this form of immunity. After all, the combatants were not in the service of a state, says the PPO.
Another important criterion, disciplinary supervision, has not been met either. "However, we do see large-scale violations of the law of war, such as summary executions, torture, looting and the placing of prohibited landmines," prosecutor Ward Ferdinandusse said.
Witnesses
The prosecution said that the suspects were identified mainly on the basis of the tapped phone calls. Although they use different names, the Public Prosecution Service was able to identify the suspects on the basis of public sources and with the help of witnesses in the area. It also became clear what the hierarchical relationships were like: Girkin was clearly the highest man. Under him were respectively Dubinsky, Poulatov and Chartshenko.
Oleg Poulatov is the only suspect represented by Dutch lawyers. Partly because of the corona crisis they haven't been able to meet him yet. The Public Prosecution fears that the trial could be slowed down as a result.
But, according to the Public Prosecutor's Office, Poulatov himself doesn't seem to be showing much effort either. Prosecutor Thijs Berger: "Poulatov hasn't tried to communicate with his counselors about the case and hasn't used the possibilities to organize his defense. It seems to be Poulatov's choice to keep contact with his lawyers only superficially and through intermediaries."
Separate treatment
The Public Prosecutor believes that the cases of Girkin, Dubinsky and Chartshenko are ready for substantive treatment in the fall. If the Poulatov case takes more time, the court may have to decide to deal with that case separately, Berger suggested.
"It's not Poulatov's unwillingness not to communicate with us," his lawyers responded. "
We don't want that because it's not safe." They're referring to the risk of eavesdropping on digital communications.
The defense is also annoyed by the increasing pressure: "We boarded a train headed by the Public Prosecutor's Office as a steam locomotive and behind it three wagons with about a hundred Public Prosecutor's Office employees. In carriage 4 the court is seated, and the lawyers follow in carriage 5 which was only attached four months ago. That train is moving faster and faster, which is why we are pulling the handbrake", says lawyer Van Eijck.
The hearing will resume on Monday 22 June. Then Poulatov's lawyers will tell what wishes for further investigation they have, before the trial can really be dealt with in substance.
Flight MH17 of Malaysia Airlines was shot down over Eastern Ukraine on 17 July 2014 by a BUK missile from Russia. A fierce war was raging in Eastern Ukraine at the time between Russian-minded separatists and Ukrainian government troops. Flight MH17 was on its way from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur and had 298 people on board. Among them were 196 Dutch. All occupants died.
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