International investigators pointed to “strong evidence” on Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin sent the missile that brought down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine in 2014 to Ukrainian separatists.
“There are strong indications that the Russian president has decided to provide Buk TELAR to the separatists,” the joint International Investigation Team (JIT) said in a statement, acknowledging that Putin cannot be prosecuted because he enjoys immunity conferred on a head of state. . .
However, investigators have also announced that they will suspend the investigation into the 2014 crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over Ukraine, citing a lack of evidence to proceed.
“At this point, the investigation has reached its limit. All leads have been exhausted. Therefore, the investigation is suspended. There is not enough evidence to continue the process,” Dutch prosecutor Digna van Boetzelaer said at a conference. press in The Hague.
The Malaysia Airlines plane was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was struck on July 17, 2014 over the eastern part of Ukraine controlled by pro-Russian rebels.
The announcement of the suspension of work of the JIT comes less than three months after a Dutch court sentenced two Russians and a Ukrainian for the murder of the passengers and crew of MH17, after having tried them in absentia.
Today, investigators concluded that the Russian president was responsible for sending the missile used in the attack.
At the Hague press conference, the investigative team released an intercepted phone call in which an adviser to the Russian authorities said that the delay in sending the missile occurred “because there is only one who decides (…) , which is currently booming in France”, referring to Putin.
However, Vladimir Putin enjoys immunity as head of state, making any attempt to prosecute him impossible, the investigators explained.
“Although we are talking about compelling evidence, the limit of complete and conclusive evidence has not been reached,” the prosecutors added when explaining the suspension of the investigation process.
Source: TSF
