A DUTCH prosecutor has said there are “strong indications” Russia wants to undermine investigations into the downing of Malaysia Flight 17 and told judges at the trial of four suspects that many witnesses fear for their safety.
Prosecutor Thijs Berger made the statement on the second day of the trial of three Russians and a Ukrainian charged with the murder of all 298 passengers and crew killed when a missile shot down the Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur flight on July 17, 2014.
It is alleged that a Russian Buk missile shot down the flight from an agricultural field in a region of eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Moscow rebel forces. Russia denies any involvement.
Berger told judges there was evidence Russian intelligence agents attempted to hack into the computers of Malaysian and Dutch investigations. “This information casts a dark shadow over these proceedings,” he said. “There are strong indications that the Russian government is very keen to thwart this investigation and that it is not averse to deploying the Russian security services to this end.
“These Russian security services have been accused of multiple murders in recent years committed in various European countries.”
Another prosecutor, Dedy Woei-a-Tsoi, told judges that “every effort will have to be made to hear witnesses safely”.
In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined comment on the trial.
Hearings this week are taking stock of progress in the international investigation. The examination of evidence, likely including a visit to the wreckage of the plane that was pieced together in a hangar on a Dutch military base, could start later this year.
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