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REUTERS
The name of the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, and those of his entourage, should be voiced during the Dutch trial of the MH17 downing case, says Jerry Skinner, a U.S. lawyer who had filed on behalf of 40 affected families a class action lawsuit with the European Court of Human Rights against Russia and its president.
In an interview with DW.com, published in Ukrainian, he noted that such powerful and hi-tech military hardware as a Buk air defense launcher which shot down the plane could not be brought from Russia to Ukraine without the highest-level authorization.
Skinner suggested that people would hear during trial the names of Putin’s close aides who maintained close contact with actors in the east of Ukraine. Putin’s name is also likely to be voiced, he added.
Everything happened exactly as it happened, according to Jerry Skinner, who is confident this is because Vladimir Putin authorized Buk’s deployment.
Read alsoMH17 trial: Russia’s GRU tried to hinder, influence probe on multiple fronts, Dutch report says
The trial in Amsterdam is the largest, but not the only, legal action regarding the MH17 case. Two class action lawsuits have been filed with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in the name of 380 relatives of victims of the MH17 crash. The plaintiffs accuse Russia of having violated the victims’ right to life, DW.com reports.
One of these suits was prepared by U.S. lawyer Jerry Skinner, who made a name for himself in the Lockerbie trial, where he succeeded in getting from Libyan government compensation from the blowing up a passenger jet over Scotland.
Now, the plaintiffs are demanding compensation from Russia of at least EUR 6.4 million ($7.2 million) per deceased passenger. The ECHR called upon Russia to make a statement responding to the charges, which it did on January 2, 2020, though its contents were not made public.
