The court on Thursday sentenced two former Russian secret service agents to life in prison. Together with a pro-Russian Ukrainian insurgent, they are held responsible for the deliberate downing of MH17.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said in response to the verdict that it regretted that the court “ignored the principles of impartiality in the MH17 case”. The Russians also call the sentence politically motivated. Russia does not intend to extradite citizens convicted in absentia.
Hoekstra said this afternoon after the Cabinet meeting that Russia was expressing itself ‘incorrectly and indecently about the Dutch legal order’. According to him, this is “the world turned upside down”, especially since Russia itself is currently violating all rights through its invasion of Ukraine.
Three life sentences, one acquittal
The court on Thursday sentenced two Russians and a pro-Russian Ukrainian to life imprisonment for shooting down passenger flight MH17 over Ukrainian territory. 298 people were killed, 193 of them Dutch.
Hoekstra does not expect Russia to extradite Russian detainees to the Netherlands anytime soon. He says he will continue to insist on this point, “even if it takes years.” He calls the verdict “a milestone”, “you have to mark who is guilty and punish those responsible”.