MH17 victims’ relatives to seek damages from suspects

More than 300 relatives of victims who died when a Malaysia Airlines passenger plane was shot down in 2014 will seek unspecified damages from four suspects being tried in the Netherlands, lawyers representing family members said on Monday.

The suspects – three Russians and a Ukrainian – are being tried for murder and shooting down the passenger plane over eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 people onboard.

The four men remain at large and only one has legal representation in the trial, which is being conducted at a courtroom near Amsterdam.

So far, 316 relatives of those who died said they plan to seek damages and 76 intend to exercise a right to speak during the trial, said Peter Langstraat, who represents 450 family members.

The claims have not been filed yet because the lawyers have asked the court to first rule whether Dutch or Ukrainian law should be applied when requesting damages.

Any court decision to award damages would hinge on a guilty verdict for the suspects, in a trial expected to last more than a year.

MH17 was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was shot down by a missile fired from a conflict area in Ukraine.

via Reuters