GOMBAK: When MH17 was shot down five years ago on July 17, 2014, legal experts described as “legal minefield” the handling of the findings and subsequent legal action that would follow.
This is because MH17 was a plane operated by a Malaysian carrier, carrying mainly Dutch citizens, and the plane fell onto disputed territory in the Ukraine where pro-Russian separatists were controlling the land.
It also crosses several laws such as civil law, criminal law, human rights laws and public international law, said legal expert Gurdial Singh Nijar.
“Malaysia has a role and to make their case in the international arena, they need to be represented by the correct way of presenting the case whether it be an alternative commission of inquiry or in front of an international committee of jurists,“ he said at a conference titled “MH17: The Quest for Justice” at the International Islamic University Malaysia.
He also said that Ukraine should be subjected to an independent and international tribunal as their risk assessment of the flight path was not secure enough, causing a civil aviation plane like MH17 to be shot down.
“If they had followed procedures and given warnings to the pilot who flew the MH17, the problem would not arise, in the context of the flight,“ he said.
He added that there should be strict liability when it comes to addressing civil litigation against Malaysia Airlines, and that there is an obligation to distinguish between civilian action and non-civilian action in the MH17 tragedy.
The conference was organised by the International Movement for a Just World (JUST), Perdana Global Peace Foundation, and Centre for Research on Globalisation.
Meanwhile, JUST president Dr Chandra Muzaffar said he will try to talk to Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad over the findings of this conference.
“We find that the investigation led by the Joint Investigation Team to be flawed, and we want to make sure that we get a word in, to delay the criminal proceedings which will start in 2020,“ he told reporters after the conference.
He was referring to the recent announcement made by the Joint Investigation Team that concluded that MH17 was shot down by a BUK missile system.
The team also pinpointed to four people being charged with murder in connection with the shooting down of the aircraft, namely three Russians – Igor Girkin, Sergey Dubinsky and Igor Pulatov – and one Ukrainian, Leonid Kharchenko.
