Russia brought before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) "for its role in the destruction of flight MH17". The Dutch government announced on Friday July 10 its decision to open proceedings against Moscow, six years after the plane crash in Ukraine.

"Providing justice to the 298 victims of the explosion in flight MH17 is and will remain the government's highest priority," said Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok in a statement. "By taking this step today (...) we are getting closer to this goal," he added.

"Maximum support" for relatives of victims

According to the minister, this decision aims in particular to offer "maximum support" to the relatives of the victims. In November 2018, the relatives of 65 Dutch people who died in the flight explosion brought an action against Russia before the ECHR, asking Moscow to "acknowledge its responsibility" in the disaster.

The Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777, which departed from Amsterdam for Kuala Lumpur on July 17, 2014, had been shot down in mid-flight by a Soviet-designed BUK surface-to-air missile over the area of ​​armed conflict with pro separatists. -Russians in eastern Ukraine. The 298 people on board, including 196 Dutch, were killed.

The Netherlands has openly blamed Russia for the deaths of its nationals. Moscow for its part has always vehemently denied any involvement in the crash and blamed the blame on Kiev.

The Dutch government warned in December 2018 that it plans to take legal action against Russia in this case, as talks between the two countries are at an impasse.

The Netherlands continues, however, "to attach importance to the continuation of meetings with Russia", with the aim "of finding a solution which does justice to the enormous suffering and damage caused" by the tragedy, the ministry said. Foreign Affairs.

Dutch justice began the trial in March of four suspects, three Russians and one Ukrainian, accused of causing the crash.

With AFP

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