THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The Dutch authorities has spent greater than 166 million euros ($180 million) coping with the aftermath of the downing of Malaysia Airways flight MH17 over japanese Ukraine in 2014, from repatriating victims’ our bodies to investigating and prosecuting a few of these concerned within the downing, in response to an official report Thursday.
The Boeing 777 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down on July 17, 2014, utilizing a Russian-made Buk missile fired from territory in japanese Ukraine managed by separatist rebels. All 298 passengers and crew had been killed, together with 196 Dutch residents.
A Dutch courtroom convicted two Russians and a pro-Moscow Ukrainian in November 2022 of involvement within the downing and sentenced them to life imprisonment. They had been tried in absentia and haven’t been detained to serve their sentences.
The courtroom dominated that the missile and its launcher had been pushed into Ukraine from a army base in Russia and the launcher returned to Russia afterward.
The trial and the huge worldwide investigation that preceded it value a complete of greater than 87 million euros, in response to the Netherlands Courtroom of Audit, which calculated prices by means of the tip of 2022.
The entire doesn’t embody about 16.5 million euros that the Dutch authorities paid to subsequent of kin final 12 months as an advance on compensation that the Dutch courtroom ordered the three males convicted within the downing of MH17 to pay.
“This compensation ought to in the end be paid by the perpetrators, however it’s open to query whether or not they’ll,” the report mentioned.
The Dutch authorities requested the impartial auditor to estimate the prices because it intends to hunt compensation from Russia in a case the Netherlands and Australia filed on the Worldwide Civil Aviation Group. Moscow denies any function within the downing.
The Dutch authorities is also supporting households who’ve introduced a case in opposition to Russia on the European Courtroom of Human Rights.
Repatriating and figuring out the our bodies of these killed value greater than 31 million euros, the audit mentioned. Worldwide authorized proceedings and diplomacy accounted for five.7 million euros.
