Page 6 - aruba-today-20221117

A6 WORLD NEWS
Thursday 17 November 2022
8 years later, Dutch judges to pass verdicts in MH17 trial

By MIKE CORDER midair and none of whom
Associated Press appeared in the Nether-
THE HAGUE, Netherlands lands for trial.
(AP) — Dutch judges are Piet Ploeg, who lost his
set to deliver their verdict brother Alex, Alex’s wife,
Thursday in the trial in ab- Edith, and their son Robert
sentia of three Russians as they flew to a vacation
and a Ukrainian over their on the Indonesian island of
alleged roles in the 2014 Bali, said earlier this week
downing of a Malaysia Air- that “Russia isn’t stand-
lines passenger jet and the ing trial, but effectively it
deaths of all 298 people on is standing trial.” He said it
board. is as important to him that
The judgment will come “the court says something
more than eight years after about the role of Russia”
the airliner traveling from as well as about the role of
Amsterdam to Kuala Lum- the four suspects. The only
pur was shot down over one of the suspects rep-
eastern Ukraine on July 17, resented by lawyers dur-
2014, during a conflict be- ing the trial, Oleg Pulatov,
tween pro-Russia separat- has insisted he is innocent.
ists and Ukrainian forces. They suggested alternative
A painstaking interna- People inspect the crash site of a passenger plane near the village of Grabovo, Ukraine, on July possibilities, including that
tional investigation estab- 17, 2014. Ukrainian forces acciden-
lished that a Buk missile Associated Press tally shot down the plane
fired from a launcher that thousands of pages of pects, the highest possible annexed parts of eastern using a Buk missile. Pulatov’s
was trucked into Ukrainian evidence to support their punishment under Dutch Ukraine, including where defense team also sought
rebel-held territory from a case, including pieces of law. Moscow and defense the wreckage of MH17 to discredit evidence and
Russian military base and metal recovered from the lawyers for one of the sus- landed in 2014. argued he didn’t get a fair
then driven back to Russia bodies of victims, tapped pects have repeatedly Some families of the peo- trial.
caused flight MH17 to ex- phone conversations and cast doubt on the findings ple who died anticipated “What matters to me is that
plode and crash. extensive social media and steadfastly denied any Thursday’s scheduled ver- the truth is revealed. It’s
Investigators say it came posts and other open- involvement in the down- dict for what the court important for me that my
from the 53rd Anti-Aircraft source data to track the ing of MH17. The trial is cul- might say about any role country is not blamed for
Missile Brigade, a unit of movements of the Buk sys- minating amid geopolitical Russia played in bringing this tragedy,” Pulatov said
the Russian armed forces tem before and after MH17 shockwaves from Russia’s down MH17. None of the in a video message to judg-
based in the Russian city of was destroyed. nearly nine-month inva- four defendants is accused es in June as the presenta-
Kursk. During the trial, pros- They have demanded life sion of Ukraine. In late Sep- of firing the missile that tion of evidence wrapped
ecutors led judges through sentences for all four sus- tember, Moscow illegally blew up the Boeing 777 in up. q

Austria, Hungary, Serbia hold top-level meeting on migration

By JOVANA GEC new forms of partnership further west from there. “We agreed to ... engage ing cars with thermal vision
Associated Press outside what is possible in Experts have said that the a higher number of police- cameras in order to try to
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — the EU,” Austrian Chancel- so-called Balkan land route men on the border with move the defense line to-
Austria, Hungary and Ser- lor Karl Nehammer said. of migration gets more North Macedonia and sub- ward the south,” Vucic
bia on Wednesday held “The EU’s asylum system active in bad weather stantial equipment, includ- said. q
another top-level meeting has failed.” when the already perilous
dedicated to curbing mi- Officials from Austria, Hun- crossings over the Medi-
gration, including by send- gary and Serbia already terranean and Aegean
ing more than 100 police held a similar meeting Seas become even more
officers, vehicles equipped weeks ago and lower-lev- dangerous. Most migrants
with night vision cameras el talks have been held in come from Afghanistan
and drones to the border the meantime. The initia- and Syria, but there are
with North Macedonia. tive came after countries also people fleeing pov-
Austria and Hungary also reported a significant in- erty and violence in Africa
pledged to help Serbia crease in the numbers of or Asia. Serbia has been
organize deportations by migrants moving along the under pressure also to re-
plane of people who come so-called Balkan route. voke its relaxed visa system
to the Balkan nation from Migrants come into Serbia with countries in Asia and
so-called safe countries of from North Macedonia Africa that have become
origin and aren’t eligible and Bulgaria after arriv- a source of migration.
for asylum in the member ing there from Turkey and President Aleksandar Vucic
states of the European Greece. From Serbia, peo- said that after abolishing
Union or in Serbia, officials ple who are trying to reach visa-free rules with Tunisia Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban, right, Serbian President
said. Western Europe proceed and Burundi, Belgrade will Aleksandar Vucic, center, and Austria’s Chancellor Karl
“We have come to the toward the neighboring EU change regulations with Nehammer shake hands after a press conference after their
point where individual EU member nations Hungary, two more countries by the trilateral meeting in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, Nov. 16,
countries are looking for Romania or Croatia and on end of the year. 2022. Associated Press