Our reporter Saskia Belleman is present at the trial. Follow the case live via her tweets at the bottom of this post.
From Monday, the plea of the lawyers of the only one of the four suspects to be represented in this trial, Oleg Pulatov, will begin. Pulatov and the three co-defendants have been sentenced to life imprisonment. The Russian denies involvement in the July 17, 2014 plane crash in eastern Ukraine.
His lawyers also began a statement about Ukraine and their struggle to continue defending the Russian suspect. “What is happening in Ukraine is terrible, we are watching the developments with dismay,” said lawyer Sabine ten Doesschate. “But,” she continues, “every suspect has the right to a fair trial and legal aid.”
Lawyers Boudewijn van Eijck (R) and Sabine ten Doesschate
Ⓒ AP
The disaster with the Malaysia Airlines plane killed all 298 people on board, including many Dutch people. It is not known exactly why the plane, which was en route from Schiphol to the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur, was shot down. The most likely scenario is that the pro-Russian separatists did not realize it was a passenger flight. At that time, too, there was an armed conflict going on in eastern Ukraine.
Buk missile installation
After years of investigation, the Public Prosecution Service decided to prosecute four suspects: rebel leader Igor Girkin, his right-hand man Sergei Dubinsky, his assistant Pulatov and garrison commander Leonid Chartshenko. According to the Public Prosecution Service, the men played a role in bringing in or removing the Buk missile installation, with which the device was brought down, according to justice.
Pulatov’s lawyers question that scenario. According to them, alternative scenarios have not been sufficiently explored. A total of twelve hearing days have been set aside for the plea in the coming weeks. The court plans to rule in the second half of this year.
Also listen to a previously recorded episode of the podcast The Case Dissected with Saskia Belleman about the most intense moments in the MH17 process: