Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 - Australian and Dutch governments go to ICAO with legal case against Russia for alleged role in downing it !

Russia is in the receiving end these days , amid sanction from American and European soil , Moscow is getting charged from every corner !  Latest charge is from two different continents , but for the same cause , though they don't draw any linkage with the Russian Invasion of Ukraine  !

Today , the  Dutch  and  the  Australian governments have initiated a legal case against Russia at the UN body - the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) , that is aimed to hold Moscow accountable for its alleged role in the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17.

• Among the Flight MH17 victims were 38 residents of Australia.
• The deaths of total 298 civilians, included 196 Dutch citizens.
• The case was announced Monday in The Hague and Canberra.
•  Moscow has been denying involvement in the downing of the aircraft.
• International investigations say , the Buk missile came from Russia.

Though it is not for the first time, the legal proceedings that was announced Monday in the Hague and Canberra is to renew the efforts to hold Russia legally responsible for the missile strike that brought down the passenger jet over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014, killing all 298 people on board.

The legal action could compel Russia to take part in stalled negotiations with the two countries, and could also result in it being penalised by the  International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

Background of the Accident 

MH17 was shot down by a Buk anti-aircraft missile over eastern Ukraine on 17 July 201 , during the War in Donbas over the area controlled by pro-Russian rebels.

All 298 people on board were killed , most of them from the Netherlands. Also among the dead were 38 residents and citizens of Australia.

Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17/MAS17) was a scheduled passenger flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur with 283 passengers and 15 crew members .

Contact with the aircraft, a Boeing 777-200ER, was lost when it was about 50 km (31 mi) from the Ukraine - Russia border, and wreckage from the aircraft fell near Hrabove in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine , 40 km (25 mi) from the border.

Australia and the Netherlands have been seeking compensation and an apology from the Russian Federation for the MH17 disaster , but  Russia , which has denied involvement despite the findings of an international investigation, unilaterally withdrew from negotiations with the two countries in October 2020.

The Dutch government says,

The ICAO should make its own determination that Russia is responsible – and therefore liable. Such a finding would open the way to claims for damages.

“We know that MH17 was shot out of the air with a Buk from the Russian army,”  says Dutch foreign minister Wopke Hoekstra .

Specifically, the Netherlands said , Russia “violated the Chicago Treaty on safe civil air transport guarantees by unlawfully using a weapon against a civilian aircraft”.

Australia’s foreign minister, Marise Payne, and attorney general, Michaelia Cash, announced on Monday that Australia would be launching joint action with the Netherlands under Article 84 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation, and will allege that Russia is in breach of the Chicago Convention that underpins aviation law.

“The Russian Federation’s refusal to take responsibility for its role in the downing of flight MH17 is unacceptable and the Australian government has always said that it will not exclude any legal options in our pursuit of justice.”

The Dutch government said the initiation of the proceeding has nothing to do with the current Ukraine war and that the step was taken after long preparation.

Wopke Hoekstra stressed that the Dutch government would continue to do all it can to hold Russia responsible.

“The deaths of 298 civilians, including 196 Dutch citizens, cannot remain without consequences,” he said. “The current events in Ukraine underscore the crucial importance of that.”

The Australian government said in a statement that

“Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine and the escalation of its aggression underscores the need to continue our enduring efforts to hold Russia to account for its blatant violation of international law and the UN Charter, including threats to Ukraine’s sovereignty and airspace”.

Both the countries have planned to present evidence that the missile system belonged to the Russian Federation’s 53rd anti-aircraft military brigade, and was accompanied by a trained Russian military crew.