Court hearing in The Hague against suspects in MH17 tragedy starts at 10:00 on March 9, 2020
A court hearing in The Hague against suspects in the downing of Malaysian airliner MH17 will start at 10:00 on March 9, 2020. The corresponding announcement has been made by Dutch prosecutor and head of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) Fred Westerbeke.
"We think that we can give the case to court before the end of the year. The criminal process will take place in The Hague, which will be conducting a hearing in conditions of special security in the criminal court complex at Schiphol. The court told us that the criminal case of the suspects will begin at 10:00 on March 9, 2020," he said.
Westerbeke called on the suspects to show up at the hearing or contact the JIT before the start of the case. He also warned that the "trial will commence," even if the suspects fail to appear.
As reported, the JIT on June 19, 2019, issued international arrest warrants for four men suspected of playing a role in the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17) over Ukraine in 2014.
Westerbeke said at a press conference on Wednesday that the investigators had issued international arrest warrants for first suspects who are to be prosecuted and whose names will also be put on national and international wanted persons lists. He identified the suspects as Igor Girkin, Sergei Dubinsky, Oleg Pulatov, and Leonid Kharchenko.