International investigators investigating the 2014 crash of Malasya Airlines flight MH17 announced on Wednesday that there are “strong indications” that it was Russian President Vladimir Putin who supplied Ukrainian separatists with the missile that brought down the plane on Ukrainian territory.
‘There are strong indications that the Russian president has decided to deliver 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 granted to 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 continue.
“At this point, the investigation has reached its limit. All leads have been exhausted. The investigation has therefore been suspended. There is not enough evidence to continue with the trial.”said public prosecutor Digna van Boetzelaer during a press conference in The Hague.
The Malaysia Airlines plane was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was hit on July 17, 2014 over the pro-Russian rebel-controlled eastern part of Ukraine.
The announcement of the JIT’s work stoppage comes less than three months after a Dutch court convicted two Russians and a Ukrainian of murdering the passengers and crew of MH17 after trying them in absentia.
Investigators concluded today that the Russian president was responsible for sending the missile used in the attack.
At the press conference in The Hague, the investigation team released a tapped phone call in which an adviser to the Russian authorities says the delay in sending the missile arose “because only one decides (…), the one that is currently emerging in France”, in a reference to Putin.
However, Vladimir Putin enjoys immunity as head of state, making any attempt to prosecute him impossible, the researchers explained.
“Although we are talking about strong evidence, the limit of full and conclusive evidence has not yet been reached,” added the prosecutors, explaining the suspension of the investigation process.
Source: DN
