October 9, 2020

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“The ECHR [European Court of Human Rights] case [regarding MH17] is filed to recover just satisfaction from the Russian Federation for using a military weapon to advance their state political causes against Ukraine, against a civilian airliner killing 298 souls. It is for the loss of the right to live. Damages are almost not quantifiable, but are very large.

We filed, Russia has opposed, and our reply is due in December 2020. We do not know yet whether the court will rule on the paper or hold evidentiary hearings in a year or so. The problem is that the ECHR has a huge number of cases pending. You are waiting in line, and this waiting is sometimes replaced by a period of serious activity: collecting information, preparing documents. At the moment, we still have a pause related to the coronavirus; the court will open only in the fall. …

MH17 is not unique. Russia has shot down airliners in Georgia, Chechnya, eastern Russian border territories and in other places. Russia appears to use airliners as targets of opportunity in conflicts with the former Eastern bloc states. We are certain that the procedural obligation to exhaust domestic remedies imposed by ECHR Article 2 will mean that Russia’s failure to investigate, lies, abuses of evidence and denial of cooperation will relieve the families of any obligation to sue Russia in Russia.…

This was a deliberate act with specific intent to shoot down an airliner and kill innocent persons. Why else would Russia drive hundreds of kilometers to a separatist-held area where the commercial aviation corridor brought targets to them. They used a weapon known for its 99 percent kill rate. It initiated an invasion which was also preceded by the slow infiltration of Russian military personnel ‘on vacation.’ Arms control groups monitored heavy weapons in this area for months before the attack. It was an act of preplanned murder.”

– U.S. lawyer Jerry Skinner, who is representing relatives of MH17 victims at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), speaking in an interview with Ukrinform.

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