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Anton Kotte, center, who mislaid his son, daughter-in-law and grandson, arrives extracurricular the tribunal for the ongoing proceedings and transgression proceedings regarding the downing of Malaysia Airlines formation MH17, astatine the precocious information tribunal astatine Schiphol airport, adjacent Amsterdam, Netherlands, Monday Dec. 20, 2021. Prosecutors are scheduled to statesman explaining grounds and their lawsuit to judges Monday successful the execution proceedings of 3 Russians and a Ukrainian charged with engagement successful downing Malaysia Airlines formation MH17 implicit eastbound Ukraine successful 2014, sidesplitting each 298 passengers and crew. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

THE HAGUE – Prosecutors connected Monday began explaining grounds and their indictment to judges successful the execution proceedings of 3 Russians and a Ukrainian charged with engagement successful downing Malaysia Airlines formation MH17 implicit eastbound Ukraine successful 2014, sidesplitting each 298 passengers and crew.

Prosecutors are scheduled to instrumentality 3 days to locomotion judges done the indictment astatine hearings successful a top-security courtroom connected the outskirts of Schiphol Airport — the departure constituent for the Boeing 777, which was heading for Kuala Lumpur erstwhile — according to prosecutors and planetary investigators — it was changeable down.

“Today we are present to bash close by the 298 victims of formation MH17,” nationalist authoritative Thijs Berger told the court.

Monday's proceeding began against a backdrop of soaring tensions betwixt Moscow and the West implicit a Russian unit buildup adjacent Ukraine that has drawn fears of an invasion. Moscow has denied plans to onslaught its neighbor, but demanded the West supply a acceptable of ineligible guarantees precluding the enlargement of NATO to Ukraine and different Russian neighbors and the deployment of the alliance’s weapons there, a request NATO has rejected.

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“Determining the information successful this lawsuit whitethorn besides lend to averting caller unit successful the future,” Berger told the judges.

“After all, a satellite that makes nary effort to ascertain the information and to punish the blameworthy erstwhile hundreds of guiltless civilians are murdered is leaving its civilians arsenic just game,” helium added. “And for that crushed information and lies request to beryllium distinguished and perpetrators request to beryllium punished. That is our task successful this courtroom.”

None of the 4 suspects has appeared astatine the trial. Only one, Oleg Pulatov, has Dutch lawyers representing him successful court. They accidental that helium denies involvement.

The trial began successful March past twelvemonth with the solemn speechmaking of the names of each the radical who died erstwhile the level shattered successful midair and plunged to the crushed successful cultivation fields successful conflict-torn eastbound Ukraine.

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An planetary probe into the clang concluded that MH17 was brought down by a buk misssile that was trucked into Ukraine from a Russian subject base. Investigators accidental the rocket launcher past returned to Russia. Moscow denies involvement.

On Wednesday, prosecutors volition archer judges what punishments they privation for the 4 suspects. The maximum condemnation is beingness imprisonment.

The proceeding volition past beryllium adjourned until March, erstwhile defence lawyers for Pulatov volition marque their presumption to judges. Both sides tin marque responses and last statements implicit the summertime and verdicts are expected earlier the extremity of adjacent year.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This worldly whitethorn not beryllium published, broadcast, rewritten oregon redistributed without permission.