Malaysia Airlines MH17 trial: Dutch prosecutors accuse Russia of hacking crash investigation
- Malaysia Airlines jet was shot down over rebel-held eastern Ukraine in July 2014, killing all 298 people on board
- ‘There are clear indications that Russian security services are actively attempting to disrupt efforts to establish the truth,’ prosecutor tells court
Moscow had tried to track down witnesses in the trial that started on Monday in the Netherlands, leaving some in fear for their lives in case they were identified, prosecutors said.
“There are clear indications that Russian security services are actively attempting to disrupt efforts to establish the truth behind the shooting down of flight MH17,” prosecutor Thijs Berger told judges.
Russia had also targeted investigators in several countries affected by the disaster, the prosecutor told the second day of the hearing at a high-security court near Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport.
“The British and Dutch authorities have determined that Russian GRU agents were involved in attempting to hack into the systems of the Malaysian investigative authorities,” Berger said, referring to Russia’s military spy agency.
There had also been attempts to hack into the Dutch Safety Board which was probing the MH17 disaster, he said.
“Seen as a whole, this information casts a dark shadow over these proceedings,” he said.
