MSGID: 2:292/854 133e4b04   
   TZUTC: 0200                     
   The court of The Hague will rule on 17 November in the extensive criminal case   
   concerning the downing of flight MH17. The verdict will take about an hour and   
   a half, the court said on Monday.   
       
   In the plane crash on 17 July 2014, all 298 people on board, including many   
   Dutch people, were killed. Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 departed that day   
   from Schiphol with destination Kuala Lumpur. However, the Malaysian capital   
   was never reached, the plane was shot down in eastern Ukraine, where an armed   
   battle was also going on at the time.   
       
   After years of investigation by the international investigative team JIT, four   
   suspects emerged: rebel leader Igor Girkin, his right-hand man Sergei   
   Dubinsky, his assistant Oleg Pulatov and garrison commander Leonid   
   Chartshenko. According to the Public Prosecution Service, the men played a   
   role in bringing in or removing the Buk missile installation that would have   
   shot the plane out of the sky. All four have not shown themselves in the   
   secure court at Schiphol, where the trial is taking place. Pulatov is the only   
   one who is assisted by lawyers. He denies any involvement.   
       
   The monster trial started on March 9, 2020. An important and fraught part of   
   the process was the part in which the next of kin had their say. For three   
   weeks, dozens of relatives told in court or via a video link what the disaster   
   meant to them. The court president mentioned this again last June, during the   
   last day of the hearing. He called it brave and said the process "has made a   
   big impression on all of us".   
       
   Another hearing will follow on September 22, but this is a formality that is   
   not expected to last more than five minutes. Although the chance of this is   
   small, the court emphasizes that something important to the investigation can   
   always happen, as a result of which the judgment date will still change.   
      
   --- DB4 - 20220519   
    * Origin: AVIATION ECHO HQ (2:292/854)   
   SEEN-BY: 1/123 15/0 80/1 90/1 105/81 106/201 120/340 123/131 129/305   
   SEEN-BY: 129/331 153/7715 221/1 229/111 112 113 317 400 424 426 428   
   SEEN-BY: 229/470 664 700 280/464 282/1038 292/854 8125 301/1 317/3   
   SEEN-BY: 320/219 322/757 335/364 342/200 396/45 460/58 633/280 712/848   
   PATH: 292/854 229/426