Lawyers told judges that the prosecution’s case had “holes” because it was too focused on proving separatists used a Russian-supplied BUK missile in the trial of four men in the MH17 downing and deny any involvement in the attack.
A verdict in the trial of the accused four men is not expected until at least November. On July 17, 2014, the passenger jet was shot down while flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, killing all 298 people on board, as Kiev’s forces battled pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine’s war-torn east.
“To conclude, the prosecution failed to prove from tapped [mobile] conversations, images and witness statements that this was the missile that downed MH17. And even if a missile was launched, it cannot be proven conclusively this was the missile that hit MH17,” said Sabine ten Doesschate, who represents suspect Oleg Pulatov.
