A court in the Netherlands has begun hearing the case on the merits of the 2014 downed Malaysian Boeing (flight MH17) in Ukraine
The MH17 trial began in the Netherlands on 9 March 2020. The first part of the trial on the merits will take place between June 7 and July 9 at a specially protected court complex near Amsterdam.
On Monday, the court will reportedly start discussing general issues and materials of the case. The judges will announce their conclusions following a May 26 visit to the site of the reconstruction of the liner’s hull at the Gilze-Reyen military base.
Judge Hendrik Steenheis said the court had received nine more lawsuits from relatives of the victims of flight MH17: the total number now stands at 299. According to him, the case file has 65,000 pages and a lot of information in digital form.
Recall that the Malaysian Boeing flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashed on 17 July 2014 near Donetsk. There were 298 people on board the aircraft, all of whom died. Ukraine blamed the crash on the People’s Militia of the LDPR, but they said they did not have the means to shoot down the plane at such an altitude.