In the courtroom
91 MH17 survivors get to speak: 'This is unique and historic'
Published 3 hours 58 minutes ago - Updated: 3 hours 57 minutes ago
It will be three emotional weeks in court. 91 surviving relatives of victims of the disaster with flight MH17 make use of their right to speak. Peter van der Meer and Jeanne Hornikx will speak on the first and last day. "This is the last thing I can do for my daughter."
Flight MH17 was downed over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014. All 298 occupants, including nearly 200 Dutch nationals, were killed.
'Unique and historic'
As of Monday, 91 surviving relatives will share their victim declarations in 15 minutes each; another eight will do so in November. This will be done live in court or via a secure live stream.
"This is a unique and historic event," says Sander de Lang of legal aid team MH17. "Never before in the Dutch criminal justice system have so many people spoken during criminal proceedings."
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What is the right to speak?
Since 2005, victims have been allowed to tell their story during the hearing of a criminal case. People who are the victim of a crime for which a sentence of eight years' imprisonment or more can be imposed are eligible for this.
In addition, the right to speak applies to a number of offenses listed in the law, such as certain sex offenses and very serious traffic accidents.
Victims were initially only allowed to talk about the impact of the crime on their lives. Since July 1, 2016, a victim statement may address everything: from the evidence to the level of punishment.
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The purpose of that right to speak is to show what the "enormous impact" of the disaster is on the lives of the survivors, De Lang says. "The judges will factor that into the sentencing."
Next of kin are allowed to say what they want. "But we advise against making judgments about the defendants at this stage, because it has not yet been established what exactly happened. That could harm the trial, because then the defendants could take the position that they have been convicted in advance."
Peter van der Meer will be among the first to speak on Monday. He lost all three of his daughters in the disaster. Sophie, Fleur and Bente. 12, 10 and 7 years old. "I want to give them a face."
For many people, the disaster is a long time ago, says Van der Meer. "For me, it's an everyday occurrence." Every morning he gets up with the pain of what has happened. "That starts with the pictures of my daughters," he says. Those are in the "girls' room," among other places, he shows in the video below [not embedded]. "That's kind of a memory room."
Van der Meers' statement will be about those first weeks after the disaster, up to and including now. "In the beginning, you think the pain is getting less. It doesn't. This stays until I die." He can still be dead on his feet after a week of good sleep and he enjoys life less. He wants his statement to show his pain, and what he misses.
'Convincing people to tell the truth'
He doesn't expect judges to be able to do much with that statement. "A judge is independent and professional. I don't think they take it into their judgment. But they are also humans, so they will take something from it. It may be that they take it into the sentencing in some way."
Above all, Van Der Meer hopes the statements will ensure that people who have anything to do with the disaster will be persuaded to tell part of the truth. "Or the whole truth."
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This is how the next of kin have been prepared for the right to speak
All the surviving relatives were explained how they should prepare a statement, says Sander de Lang of Legal Aid Team MH17.
"In addition, we gave practical tips. Take your time or drink a glass of water if you can't take it anymore. And think about who will take over the statement on your behalf if it really isn't feasible anymore."
The family of Anne Faber [survivors in a different murder case] was also invited to a meeting to tell how they experienced the right to speak.
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Jeanne Hornikx will also speak, on the final day of session. Hornikx lost her 31-year-old daughter Astrid in the MH17 disaster. On Friday, September 24, at 10:00 a.m., she will talk about the impact of that.
It's exciting, she says. "It feels like this is the last thing we can do for our late daughter Astrid."
Together with her husband she is staying in Zeeland, at a campsite where they often came with Astrid. "Here we look for peace and quiet. This is how we prepare ourselves." What she wants to say, she has on paper. Every now and then she reads it through for a while.
Initially, Jeanne and her husband didn't like the fact that they were only allowed to speak on the last day. "But then we realized that the 24th is also the birthday date of her late friend Bart. We said: they took care of that for us up above."
Jeanne and her husband think it is very important that the judges hear what the air disaster is doing to them. "Everyone should know that. What has been taken from us. Our most precious possession, our daughter. You hear a lot about the trial, but not how it goes with surviving relatives."
Because it goes up and down, she explains. "Sitting in a corner on the couch doesn't solve anything, so you look for a way to move on. There are some nice moments, too. But you always are carrying a backpack."
What they hope to achieve? "That it gets listened to. That it makes an impression. Nobody can solve it, but we would like to let the judges know the impact the disaster has on our lives. Ideally, I'd like to push the perpetrators under their noses about what it has done to us."
Translated with
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