Australia and the Netherlands have launched legal action against Russia over the 2014 downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17, in what the Prime Minister is calling a “pursuit of justice”.
Australia and the Netherlands launched the proceedings in the International Civil Aviation Organisation, naming Russia as responsible for the incident under international law.
The flight was shot down on July 17, 2014, killing all 298 people onboard, including 38 Australians.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the legal action was a major step forward in truth and accountability for a “horrific” act of violence.
“The Russian Federation’s refusal to take responsibility for its role in the downing of Flight MH17 is unacceptable and the Australian government has always said that it will not exclude any legal options in our pursuit of justice,” Mr Morrison said in a joint statement.
The legal action carried out by both countries will come on top of the Dutch prosecution of four suspects over their individual involvement in the incident.
Australia and the Netherlands are seeking from the International Civil Aviation Organisation a declaration that Russia broke the civil aviation conventions, also known as the Chicago Convention.
The two nations are also seeking to order Russia into negotiations over the incident for reparations.
Australia and the Netherlands will rely on “overwhelming” evidence that the flight was brought down by a Russian missile in eastern Ukraine, an area that was under the control of Russian-backed separatists.
The missile belonged to Russia’s 53rd anti-aircraft military brigade and was accompanied by a trained Russian military crew.
Both countries said evidence showed the missile could only have been fired by the trained Russian crew, with the missile system later returned to Russia shortly after the incident.
Attorney-General Michaelia Cash said the pursuit of accountability was a priority not just for Australia but for the Netherlands as well.
“(The downing of the flight) caused tremendous grief and suffering to the next of kin of the victims, pain aggravated by the absence to date of any acknowledgment by Russia,” she said.
Mr Morrison said the legal efforts would help to provide justice to the families of the victims.
“While we cannot take away the grief of those whose loved ones died as a result of Russia’s actions, the Australia government will pursue every available avenue to ensure Russia is held to account so that this horrific act never happens again,” he said.
The legal action over MH17 comes as several western nations have imposed crippling sanctions against Russia for their invasion of Ukraine.
Source: AAP
