Vadim Lukashevich: Russia continues to delay the process in the MH17 case, not being its participant

The Russian authorities consciously delay the consideration of the MN17 case in the Hague court. Moreover, Russia is not a participant in the process. About this The Insider was told by the independent aviation expert Vadim Lukashevich, author of the book "Tragedy MN17: True and Lie."

The hearings resumed on November 1. Already on November 15, the prosecution was supposed to begin the announcement of the indictment, but at the request of the defense, the court announced a break in the hearings before receiving a response from the Russian side to the next requests. This is, in particular, about interrogation at the request of the protection of the commander of the Kursk 53rd anti-aircraft missile brigade Sergey Muchkayev. It was he who commanded the Buk-M1 firing unit No. 332, from which Boeing was supposedly knocked down

Back in April of this year, the Netherlands sent Russia an appropriate request under the interstate agreement on the provision of legal assistance, in August Russia agreed to this, but later began to ignore the requests of the Netherlands. Now the defense accuses the prosecutor of the fact that the survey of Muchkayeva has become unlikely after the circulation of the United Investigative Group directly to the inhabitants of Kursk.

The defense also demanded a further analysis of the testimony of the witness of the M58, which was directly at the place of starting the “beech”. Claims of defense against interrogation M58 are that at the time of interrogation he was in the next room, his voice was changed, and he himself was in a wig and overhead mustache. Protection made up the initial audio recording and video interrogation M58.

“I think that these are quite agreed actions of protection and the Russian authorities represented by the Investigative Committee, which deliberately delay the process. The court was actually postponed for several months, and not because of the actions of lawyers, but because of the position of Russia-now the prosecutor’s statement about the fault of the accused was postponed to December, with reservation of the extreme date for February 2022. It may take a few more months for the court to finally make sure that the interrogation of Muchkayev is impossible. It is possible, of course, that the interrogation will be carried out, and Muchkayev will say that the “Buk” did not cross the Ukrainian border, as the Russian side has already been repeatedly stated, ”said Lukashevich.

“At the beginning of the process, the prosecutor’s office, believing that the defense will not cling to the“ alternative ”versions, such as an explosion on board, the Ukrainian Su-25 attack aircraft and others, and spoke about the possible start of the consideration of the case in the summer of 2020. But the opposition of the defense that clung to any trifle, from coronavirus to interrogations of killed separatists, led to the fact that the consideration of the case began only on June 6, 2021. Thus, the defense managed to win a whole year. Now the consideration of the case was again tightened, ”added Lukashevich.

It was previously planned that on November 15-17, the prosecutor’s office was supposed to make an assessment of facts and evidence in the case, as well as to submit a claim for the punishment of four accused. On March 7, 2022, four weeks were reserved for the defense. Since May 16, 2022, the reaction of the prosecutor's office and a group of lawyers of relatives to the defenses of the main accused Oleg Pulatov was to be followed.

Lukashevich noted that after the court presented the position of the prosecution, the most difficult stage from an emotional point of view began - the performance of relatives of the victims. Some of them act in person, some recorded appeals to the court.

According to Lukashevich, the next transfer of the consideration of the case, on the one hand, cuts off possible future charges of engagement of the court, and on the other, the opportunity to once again demonstrate to the whole world a direct opposition to Russia by justice. “I would put this on a par with the Russian veto on the UN Security Council resolution on the creation of the International Tribunal on MN17 in 2015,” concluded Lukashevich.

The Gaaga District Military Court considers the Boeing case. Among the defendants are four members of an unrecognized DPR - Russians Igor Strelkov, Sergey Dubinsky, Oleg Pulatov and Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko. The court has to answer the questions “Was the MH17 was shot down by Bucus?”, “Was the launch made from the agriculturalpol under Pervomaisky, which was under the control of the“ DPR ”?”, And “are the accused involved?”.

The Insider asked experts from Conflict Intelligence Team to analyze the data published by the court, including new evidence of the involvement of the Russian military and mercenaries.