US attorney wants to sue Putin for downing of MH17
Jerry Skinner, a US attorney, hopes to lay out a case against Russian President Vladimir Putin with the European Court of Human Rights. He wants to sue Putin for $330 million in compensation for relatives of the victims of the MH17 disaster. He wants Putin to be held accountable for shooting down the Malaysia Airlines plane while it was flying over the Donbas region in July 2014.
According to Reuters, Skinner, through the Australian LHD law firm, represents the relatives of the victims.
Skinner had previously won a compensation case in 1988 for relatives of the victims of a plane that was blown up over the Scottish town of Lockerbie.
“Nothing happens in Russia without Putin approving it. He is therefore indirectly responsible,” Reuters quoted Skinner as saying. As proof of this, he cited eyewitness accounts, videos, photos and radar records from the scene. “All of this evidence is available. Even without Russia’s involvement in the actual shooting of the plane, I can confidently say that the Russians were the ones responsible for this disaster,” he concluded.
However, despite his confidence in his success, Skinner acknowledged that the court hearings could take years to complete.
Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crashed on the 17th of July 2014 in the Donetsk region. All 298 passengers were killed.
On the 13th of October 2015, the Dutch Safety Board announced that the results of the investigation into the crash determined that the plane was hit by a rocket fired from a Buk missile system.
Investigators of Bellingcat reported that the Russian military was involved in the crash.