Russia Must Respond to JIT MH17 Report

A new report by the Dutch prosecutor's office about the MH17crash, issued on 28 September, 2016, is politicized in nature and is not based on the professional experts’ findings. It uses postings in the social networks and interceptions of dubious telephone conversations, Russian senator Igor Morozov said in an interview to www.valdaiclub.com.

"Moreover, it violated the regulatory frameworks of ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) and IAC (Interstate Aviation Committee) concerning the organization of international investigative commissions on air tragedies. Therefore, it seems to me, that Russia should not take to heart the rigid and false accusations about its involvement or responsibility for downed civilian airliner"- the senator said.

Russia should create a new investigative commission and come up with a specific set of professional opinions, Morozov said. He stressed that it is necessary to attract international experts to the investigation. According to the senator, the incident should be re-investigated, starting from the missile flight ballistics, by which MH17 was hit, and ending with an analysis of the data submitted by the Dutch side.

Morozov also urged to trigger an "information attack" on the MH17 case. "The "information attack" involves the information support to the Almaz-Antey (developer of Buk SAM"- Ed.) conclusions - in all azimuths, in all directions, in all areas, on all international platforms. This should be an alternative investigation. It is necessary to unite all forces, interested in objective investigation, including the Dutch and the Malaysians", - Morozov said.

Morozov added that it is quite possible to do by loosening the US pressure on the investigation.

"To begin with, in order to promote the Almaz-Antey investigation, we should use the TV, and not only the Russian TV channels. We need to come up with this investigation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, ICAO, IAC, inviting all Western TV channels to objective coverage of what the experts say, "- Morozov said.

In addition, we must obtain access to all the information that is available in the Joint Investigation Team. We cannot allow ambiguous situations such as the one with images from American satellites, which allegedly proved that Boeing was hit from a militia-controlled territory. Two years have passed from the American statement, but no one saw these photos.

The senator stressed that there will be no aftermaths of the report publication, because Russia is not the participant in the hostilities on the Ukraine territory. Moreover, the investigation still has a large number of gaps and questions that need to be resolved with the help of ICAO, IAC and other international organizations.

"Where is a testimony certificate of the air-traffic controller, who led the plane at the time? Where are the Dnepropetrovsk radar station data, when the airliner flew? Where are the negotiations that took place between the air-traffic controller and the commander of the MH17? Why there is still no clear info about rerouting of the Malaysian Boeing directly to the war zone, where the Ukrainian Buks were stationed? "- Morozov asked.

"The image of our country is hurt, and we have every right to oppose it. We simply have to say that we do not agree with this investigation, where the blame is put on Russia without any real evidence "- the senator concluded.

Views expressed are of individual Members and Contributors, rather than the Club's, unless explicitly stated otherwise.