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Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus has reiterated Australia’s commitment to justice for MH17 as the tenth anniversary of its downing approaches.
In a speech to Parliament, the Attorney-General spoke of the “shock” when Australians learned on the morning of 18 July 2014 that the aircraft had been shot down over eastern Ukraine, and said memorial services were planned both in Amsterdam and Canberra.
The plane had been on its way from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when contact was lost around 50 kilometres from the Ukrainian border with Russia on 17 July 2014, local time.
All 283 passengers and 15 crew, including 38 Australians, were killed in the attack, with some en route to an AIDS conference in Melbourne at the time.
“I will represent the Australian Government at an event to mark that very sad anniversary at the MH17 memorial in Amsterdam, alongside friends and partners from the Netherlands and many other countries touched by this tragedy. And, most importantly, alongside the loved ones of those who were lost on Flight MH17,” said Dreyfus.
“Here in Australia, a memorial service will be held at Parliament House as an opportunity to come together to honour the lives lost and to stand with their families and loved ones.
“It will be a very sombre day. It will be a moment to pause and remember those whose lives were tragically cut short in a senseless act of violence. It will be a moment to commit ourselves to continue to seek accountability for those responsible for this despicable crime.”
Dreyfus also condemned Russia for its role in the tragedy, telling Parliament that the Boeing 777-200ER was shot down by Russian surface-to-air missiles, which were transported from Russia to separatists it was backing in Donetsk, a region of eastern Ukraine that was under separatist control.
“Just under two years ago, the District Court of The Hague made unequivocal and conclusive findings of the Russian Federation’s involvement in the downing of Flight MH17, and findings of guilt against Igor Girkin, Sergey Dubinskiy and Leonid Kharchenko,” he said.
The then Morrison Government launched legal proceedings against Russia in 2022 alongside the Netherlands, with the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) last year ruling that it did have jurisdiction to hear the case.
“Last month, the Russian Federation withdrew from the ICAO proceedings. Australia deplores that decision by the Russian Federation,” said Dreyfus.
“Nonetheless, we have commenced the presentation of our case before the Council, including the compelling evidence demonstrating that the Russian Federation was responsible for the downing through its role in the transport, deployment and use of the missile launcher that shot down Flight MH17.
“Our work is not done and there will be further hearings before the Council. We will not abandon our efforts. Together with the Netherlands, we will continue to call upon the ICAO Council to hold the Russian Federation to account for this senseless act of violence.”
Image “Schiphol Airport Memorial MH17 Victims July 2014” licenced under CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped from original.
