"Australia has full confidence in JIT findings," - FM Payne on decision to hold Russia responsible for MH17 downing
Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne at the United Nations in New York on Tuesday met with foreign ministers from The Netherlands, Ukraine, Belgium and Malaysia to hold Russia responsible.
As reported by Censor.NET citing The Australian, she has called out Russia for not accepting the findings of the independent investigation into the shooting-down of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine.
"Today, my colleagues from the other Joint Investigation Team countries and I met in New York and reaffirmed our commitment to establishing the truth behind the downing of MH17 and prosecuting those responsible," Ms Payne, who is leading Australia's delegation at the UN General Assembly this week, said in a statement.
"I reaffirmed our unconditional support for the JIT's independent investigation.
"We regret that Russia has not accepted the factual findings of the JIT to date and reiterate that Australia has full confidence in the impartiality, independence and professionalism of the JIT and in its findings."
"My Dutch counterpart, Stef Blok, also took this opportunity to brief our colleagues from the other JIT countries on our decision to hold Russia responsible, under international law, for its part in the downing of MH17 and reaffirmed our common resolve," Ms Payne, describing Tuesday's meeting, said.
In May the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) presented evidence demonstrating that the Buk installation used to shoot down flight MH17 belonged to the Russian army. ‘The JIT’s conclusions are far-reaching and serious. More and more pieces of the puzzle are falling into place,’ minister Blok noted. ‘We and the other JIT countries again call on all countries to accept the facts established by the JIT.’
Censor.NET has been reporting about the investigation of the crash investigation progress and published exclusive photos of the hangar and the submunitions of Russian missile Buk-M1-2, featured in the criminal investigation. Prosecutor's Offices of the Netherlands and Australia have prepared convincing evidence. It was established that submunitions that hit the Boeing exactly match those from the warhead of the latest Russian anti-aircraft missile Buk-M1-2. The system was developed in 1997, put into service of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in 1998, and was never delivered to Ukraine. In addition, independent experts from Germany, England and Poland studied the fragments of the debris and concluded they were part of a Russian Buk missile. Modern chemical analysis has identified the composition of the metal and found parts of the glass and skin of the same downed Boeing that had been cut by these elements prior to hitting the people.
In November 2015, President Poroshenko visited the Netherlands and said that Ukraine was employing its membership in the U.N. Security Council for investigation of the MH17 tragedy.
In May 2016, Australian law firm LHD filed a lawsuit against Russia and Russian President Vladimir Putin to the European Court for Human Rights on behalf of relatives of those killed in the Malaysian Boeing MH17. The lawsuit names Putin as accused defendant and demands $10 million for each killed passenger.
On May 24, 2018, Joint Investigation Team said it managed to ascertain that the BUK system used to bring down MH17 was in service with the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Namely, it belonged to the 53rd anti-aircraft missile brigade based in the city of Kursk, the Russian Federation.
