Relatives of MH17 tell their story: ‘What should we do? Buried Mama without Papa?’ | Inland

Follow it below via the tweets of Saskia Belleman.

Australian bereaved David Horder shows the wedding rings of his deceased parents Howard and Susan during the hearing. His father’s is not quite round anymore. “It’s physical evidence of what happened. This ring survived the fall,” said David, who has been wearing the ring every day since.

The man, like his two brothers, now struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder. “I had to deal with an overwhelming loss while Russia was engaged in a fake news campaign. Now, seven years later, I notice that we have all been given life sentences. It’s time for the guilty to tell the truth,” Horder said. Countryman James Rizk, who also lost both parents, already spoke on Monday about the misleading information that Russia spread. “Everyone can see how arrogant the country is.”

‘Achteloosheid’

Sabine van Doorn lost her daughter, son-in-law and two young grandchildren. “After so many years you realize that things are not getting any better. It’s just been longer.” According to the woman, a conclusion always emerges: “the carelessness with which these perpetrators have murdered 298 people.”

The father of the deceased teenager Elsemiek, Hans de Borst, also says, in his opinion, that he is still “in phase 1 of mourning. Sadness, anger, disbelief. That remains, after all these years of misinformation and sweeping everything under the rug.”

Several relatives also spoke on Monday. They will have the opportunity to tell the court what the disaster with the Malaysia Airlines plane meant to them. About ninety of them have indicated that they want to make use of the right to speak.

All 298 people on board flight MH17 were killed in the disaster on July 17, 2014. Among them were almost 200 Dutch.

The prosecution suspects rebel leader Igor Girkin, his right-hand man Sergei Dubinsky, his assistant Oleg Pulatov and garrison commander Leonid Chartshenko of involvement in the downing of the Malaysia Airlines plane. Of these four, only the Russian Pulatov is assisted by lawyers, the others have not responded to calls from the court and the Public Prosecution Service.

The criminal case has been ongoing since March 2020, first with many preparatory sessions and the substantive treatment started in June. The court’s ruling is not expected before next year.

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