SYDNEY, March 14. /TASS/. Australia and the Netherlands have sued the Russian Federation demanding millions of dollars in compensation in the case of the Malaysia Airlines plane crash that killed 298 people, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said Monday.
"We will use all available means to hold Russia accountable. The Russian Federation’s refusal to take responsibility for its role in the downing of flight MH17 is unacceptable and the Australian government has always said that it will not exclude any legal options in our pursuit of justice," Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce and Attorney General Michaelia Cash said in a joint statement.
Speaking to reporters, Payne said a statement from the two countries demanding a trial regarding the MH17 crash and compensation was filed Monday with the International Civil Aviation Organization. In it, the authorities claimed on behalf of Australian and Dutch families who lost loved ones that Russia was responsible for the plane's crash.
She announced that Australia would be launching joint action with the Netherlands under Article 84 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation, and will allege that Russia is in breach of the Chicago Convention that underpins aviation law.
The amount of compensation the countries intend to demand from Russia has not yet been disclosed.
MH17 crash
Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 passenger flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashed on July 17, 2014, in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, killing 298 people on board, who were citizens of ten countries. The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) announced in June 2019 that it had identified a group of four suspects involved in the incident. The prosecutor's office has demanded life imprisonment for all of the accused.
Russian officials have repeatedly expressed distrust in the results of the investigation team, pointing to the groundlessness of the prosecution's arguments and reluctance to use Moscow's findings in the investigation. Moreover, as the Russian Foreign Ministry previously recalled, Moscow initially proposed working together, but instead international investigators removed Russia from full participation in the JIT, assigning Russian efforts to just a secondary role.